Izzy
by nonoza
Summary: au. edward never came back. 10 yrs after new moon edward finds that he got what he wanted. bella is living a normal life and does not remember him. its as if he never existed. what is it they say about being careful what you wish for?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. It just haunts me.

**The biggest day of your life**

**EPV**

The biggest days of your life aren't the ones you thought they would be. The days you thought would be the biggest don't live up to it. The biggest days of your life turn out to be the ordinary days. The day you start a new job. The day you get what you want. The day you realise you don't want it. These are the biggest days of your life, but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Today was my first day at work. I wasn't even paying attention to a lot of it. I had been mourning Bella for 10 years. 10 long, miserable years. It was so bad that jasper couldn't stand to be near me, so of course Alice had to go with him. Today was the day I decided to please my family. They got me a job to distract me, and no, the irony of that is not lost on me. I was going to work for the most difficult person to ever walk the earth. I did not think this would be extraordinary. Hell, I did not think period.

Rosalie, Carlisle and I were going to pose as doctors that had just finished their residencies. We got a job with Dr. Bass, head of Diagnostics. We went into Jack Crawford's (dean of medicine) office because he wanted to see us before our work commenced. He told us about our boss. Dr. Bass sounded like Jason Bourne. No memory and extraodinarily good at one thing. Unlike Jason Bourne Dr. Bass was married with children.

During a lecture I was not really listening to the door burst open. "Jesus Bass!" Crawford exclaimed, "What the hell is this?"

"Police escort." Bella replied nonchalantly. Crawford asked us to leave the room and Carlisle and Rosalie had to practically drag me from there. We listened from the outside. "Why the hell did you come to work in handcuffs?" he continued.

Turns out she was trying to break into her own house. If it weren't for the strong smell of liquor I would not have understood. He told her that he had taken the liberty to hire new employees for her and she was not to fire us without having giving us a fair chance. She agreed, mainly because he verified her identity to the police.

I answered the question my father and my sister did not want to voice. "We're staying." I could not possibly tear myself away from Bella now, even if she was married with kids. She came out right after the discussion was concluded. I retrieved the most commendable comments I had heard about her. "Dr. Bass I've heard great things about your work." I didn't even get to finish the praise before she shot me down.

"Don't bother sucking up, I already hate you." Well I didn't think that would be the first sentence at our reunion. She walked to her office and instructed us to stay in the big room with a table, which I assumed would be the place we occupied, by slamming the door in our faces. We sat and listened to her undress and redress in silence. She opened the door in all her half naked glory. She had put on a pair of skinny jeans that hugged her… focus Edward! And a lacy black bra that left very little to my already overactive imagination and said, "Coffee." I made coffee while she wrote fast on her phone and then slipped it into her pocket. Carlisle and Rosalie were shocked at Bella's lack of modesty, as was I.

I handed her coffee in the only cup in the room. She took a swig and then spit it back into the cup I hated so passionately. Did I mention the writing on its side. It said Bass's Izzy. She wasn't Izzy. She was Bella. "Jigsaw made my coffee taste like Christmas. This tastes like shit." She put it back on the table and walked back into her office and put the rest of her clothes on but not before we saw the strange scars on her back and a tattoo of her last name. I don't think she likes me very much anymore.

"You," she looked at Carlisle and pointed to her office door, "make sure I don't here that bloody phone ringing. I have a throbbing hangover." Carlisle was so happy to see some fire in my eyes that it gave him even greater joy to be of assistance to Bella but before he got up she said, "You're not my employees. You have to prove you're useful first. Go to the free clinic and get me nurse Jordan's panties." We all knew she wasn't joking. She didn't get her bad reputation from nowhere. She then crawled under the table and lay facedown, "Now."

Never to be outdone Rosalie exited. "Sort my damn mail." Carlisle and I went through the mail at an acceptable pace and in silence. He didn't know what to say, neither did I. Most were requests for Bella to diagnose people or their loved ones. Not long into the sorting Rosalie came back with red lacy underwear that definitely belonged to her. When she gave it to Bella she got a smile, "Jordan's wearing grey cotton panties today but I admire your shamelessness so you're hired." I must say, I did not expect her to be rewarded for cheating. I was not usually competitive but I was not letting this opportunity slip through my fingers.

I left Rosalie and Carlisle sorting mail, looked for a nurse Jordan and did the only thing I could do: I offered her $3000 for her underwear. Good thing she was a single mother of three children. I then hunted down Jigsaw (Boy it's hard to find someone without their real identity to go on) and paid her $1000 to teach me how to make coffee taste like Christmas. Turns out you just add cinnamon.

I went back to the office feeling happier than I had in ten years. That disappeared as soon as I left my happy place and came back to earth. Bella's husband was in the room with his dirty paws all over her. Of course I'm jealous! He was married to the love of my life. She had his children. His arms were around her waist and he held her close to him. His face was buried in her hair and he had a sense of joy I resented because it should have been mine.

The biggest days of your life are the days you thought would be ordinary. The day you start a new job. The day you get everything you want. The day you realise you do not want it. Bella is living a normal human life. She has everything I ever wanted for her and it's as if I never existed. I tell you, the person who said be careful what you wish because you just might get it must have been in a similar situation.

Just when I thought this day was as eventful as it could get, Charles Bass looked up and recognised me.

Author's Note: I just stole the names Charles Bass and Jack Crawford because I liked them. These aren't those characters. Hope you enjoyed. Leave me a review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Unexpected visitor **

**EPV**

"She's married!" Rosalie exclaimed after an extensive examination of my face.

"I met her husband today. I know she's married!" that came out hasher than I intended.

"And I know that look of longing that has been plastered on your face for the past 3 hours!" Rose is back. She was no longer treating me like I was made of glass.

"Rose." Esme gave her a stern warning look. Rosalie sighed and went to sit down next to Emmett. False alarm. If Rose was back she wouldn't have backed down that fast.

We were sitting in the dining room of our new home in Seattle. No one wanted to admit, even in their thoughts that this was a meeting. They preferred to think of it as a reunion. Alice and Jasper were coming back from exile. They hadn't lived with us permanently for eight years. Rose and Emmett were around more often but they too lived on their own. Carlisle and Esme had never left my side. They were naturally compassionate to the extreme but part of them feared I would commit suicide.

We heard the car pull into the driveway. Alice ran into the house with Jasper right behind her. Alice wanted to see her best friend. "She won't spare you a second glance Alice. She doesn't know you nor is she friendly with strangers." I told her a soon as she stepped inside the door.

"So what do we do?" Emmett addressed the elephant in the room.

"You do nothing," I said then directed my attention to Carlisle, "We work out our two year contracts and then we leave." My heart clenched painfully at the idea. None of them said it out loud but they were sceptical. I couldn't blame them. I didn't believe me either.

"I just want to meet her… again, even if it is just for ten seconds."

"Alice don't." I tried.

"No, Edward, you're not the only one who lost her and you're certainly not the only one who's missed her." I kept quiet. There wasn't much I could say.

"He's hiding something." I say after a minute of laden silence.

"Edward, please," Carlisle started.

"He was shocked to see us. He recognised us, not like he knew us but like ha knew about us somehow."

"You're reaching." Rosalie said and laid her head on Emmett's shoulder. She's not the only one who thought no good would come of this.

"He's a billionaire." I stated.

"So you don't trust him because he's rich?" Rosalie, yet again.

"I don't trust him because he's rich and virtually nonexistent. He's been famous since he was born." This is the best way to describe what I've read about him without sounding bitter or jealous. "Then he married Bella and practically disappeared." I was interrupted by Rosalie.

"That just means he changed for his wife." She emphasised the last word. Like it meant a thing to him, but, like I said, I don't want to sound bitter.

"He didn't just change himself, he changed her too." This got their attention. "Bella is supposedly 32."

Alice answered this time. "Edward he's 44. She's 28. 15 years doesn't seem like much at those ages but when they got married she was barely 20 and he was 36."

"Did you see them?" It suddenly seems like too much of a coincidence that Alice left around the time Bella got married.

"I haven't seen Bella in almost 10 years. I just did some research on my way here." There wasn't even the slightest hint of dishonesty as she said this.

"You did you research on Isabella Bass," those two names together made my tongue sting, "I did mine on Isabella Swan and she doesn't exist. He's hiding something!" that may have come out louder than the planned volume.

"Whatever it is he's not hiding it from us." Alice said, "He'll be here in 23 minutes."

AN: please leave a review. U don't even have to be nice.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** All those people who like this story please do me a tiny favour. Leave something. It can be a smiley face if you like the chapter or a sad face if you don't. I just need to know what you think of my story. If I hadn't checked my stats I wouldn't have continued this because I honestly thought no one liked it. So please guys. Give me something to go on.

**EPV**

We waited in silence. None of us knew what to make of this, not even Alice: apparently Charles didn't know what he wanted to say. We heard him walk to the front door. "You're gonna make me knock?" he asked. Alice was at the door in a flash and Jasper spread a blanket of calm over the rising panic.

"Good morning Dr. Bass." Alice greeted him with a smile that was not returned.

"I wouldn't call it that." was his only response as he walked past her. The man was rude.

I looked up at the clock. 3am it said. He followed my gaze, "witching hour, how appropriate." He said with a glare at me. "My wife is not the soundest sleeper so I'll make this quick. I'll pretend not to hate you all because she doesn't remember how you abandoned her. I will invite you into our home because she thinks you," he looked distastefully at me, "are our twins' sibling."

"Why would she think that?" Emmett blurted out. I'll admit I'm glad he asked.

"They like you." He spat resentfully.

"Why?" Rosalie had also lost control of her brain to mouth filter.

"Are you being purposely dense?" he shouted, "Biology dictates that they're your children but those boys will only tolerate you so they're mother doesn't have to know what vermin you all are."

Time stood still. All the vampires in the room stood still. Did he just say that they're my children? "But that…" I couldn't finish my sentence.

"I don't have the time or the patience for this meltdown. When you left Izzy was pregnant… WITH HALF VAMPIRE TWIMS! You have no right to break down."

"Wait." Rosalie seemed oddly amused. "Your children are _his _children?"

"They're MY children. He may have made them but they're my children." He took a card out of his pocket and gave it to Carlisle, "Be there at 7." He turned on his heel and walked to the door.

"Dr. Bass," I started. The man had raised my children and that forced me to respect him. "Please tell me about them. Just briefly please." I begged.

_And now he cares _he thought but decided to be the bigger man. "They're tall, pale and look a little older than you. They have that untameable red hair and that face with one glaring difference. They have these freakishly green eyes." He thought of Bella saying that sentence. "They don't let anyone in because they're carrying around a secret that could kill them and anyone they tell. They're wise beyond their years. They are stubborn and they will hate you. Eli is the more forgiving of the two. He's named after me. Anthony is gonna make you work and yes, she named him after you. Izzy has had to deal with more in the last ten years than anyone should ever have to. She doesn't know the twins are hers. Telling her that would mean an extensive discussion about how you…" he couldn't think of a word befitting us, "… did her wrong and she's better of without those memorise." He walked to the door and paused, "If anyone of you ever tells her I'll show you that indestructible is nothing." He opened the door and slammed it behind him.

"You've got kids, plural," Emmett said with a slight twinge of envy. I had given Bella what he could not give to Rosalie.

"Kids that look like you," Alice, the optimist, beamed.

"It's not fair," Rosalie said as she sunk into Emmett, "He never even thought about having a child and he gets two?" She broke into dry heaving sobs. Emmett carried her up to her room wordlessly. No words could comfort Rosalie right now.

"I have to go pick out something to wear tomorrow," Alice said when enough time had passed.

"Edward calm down," Jasper said and helped me along.

"I have two children who aren't even children anymore. They hate me. I deserve it. I left her at what must have been the most terrifying time of her life. Now I can't even hate Charles because I owe him too much! Calm is not something I can do right now!" I ended up screaming. The fact that Alice did not reassure everyone was a sign that his would not go too well. How well can you expect to be received by children who think you abandoned them before they were born?

We arrived at Bella's home the next day to what wpuld be the longest evening of our very long lives.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dinner**

**EPV**

Alice picked out my clothes. I had a hard time finding something appropriate. Charles opened the door before we knocked. I saw my children for the first time. "We're not your children, and the fact that you can't tell us apart is proof of that." This sentence was shared between the two. Once this observation was made I realised that I was not the only mind-reader in the room.

"I'm Edward Cullen." I was cut off.

"We know who you are and we have no interest in talking to you." As they said this they came closer to me. Once Bella came into the room one of them gave me a hug. "We're doing this for our mom." He whispered into my ear. Bella came into the room in a tank top, yoga pants and sneakers. She also had an IPod. Charles gave her a peck on the cheek, thank God. The twins rolled their eyes.

Esme walked over to Bella and hugged her. Bella just stood with her arms at her sides. My poor mother let go and stepped back. Bella walked right past us without a word. Carlisle and Jasper put their hands on each of her shoulders. Esme was feeling the stinging pain of rejection.

"Six minutes of reality." Charles said as he went to sit down in the chair furthest from us. The twins sat on the stairs closest to him. Esme tried to talk to them, "It's very nice to meet you," she said hopefully.

"Let's not pretend that we'll ever be friends. We'll save the pretence for our mom. God knows this is gonna be hard enough." One of the twins replied. Anyone could see the divide. The Bass family sat as far from us as the room allowed and we were too afraid to invade their space. We were too afraid to even speak to them.

"You have to talk to them," Charles said to the twins, "Your mother won't miss that you know nothing about each other."

"Why don't you start?" One of the twins asked sarcastically.

"Because I'm allowed to hate them," Was Charles' response and the twins seemed to understand. We exchanged quick facts. We didn't want to be hated more than we already were.

"How long has it been?" Charles asked worriedly.

"Too long." One replied.

"Pay up." The other said to him.

"Not until we know for sure." His brother replied.

"Could someone clue us in?"Emmett asked.

"No." replied the twin who had apparently lost some bet.

_Just tell them _Charles thought.

"Mom runs a mile when she has to do something she isn't comfortable with_." Which isn't often_. "She runs at least 5 when she's trying to figure something out or when she's angry. Both those options mean we're toast." The twin who had won the bet informed us. "I'm Eli. The way you refer to us is annoying. He's Anthony." Anthony. She named one of them after me.

"Get over it." Anthony said.

So this is what it's like living with me.

"Don't ever compare us with you." Anthony said with a glare then he thought of a way to entertain himself till Bella got back. "You look like him." He said to Eli. This was meant to insult.

"You look like me." Eli responded with a smirk.

_That totally backfired._ Anthony thought. Eli laughed with his eyes closed.

We heard the running footsteps headed for us. "Incoming." He warned Charles, the only person in the room who couldn't hear them. They came and stood with us. As soon as Bella was within hearing distance Eli said, "Of course all male designers are gay. Stop pretending you don't know because really Alice that is ridiculous and you know it." Alice didn't miss a beat. They carried on their phony conversation until Bella came into the house.

She stood in front of us and folded her arms. "What is it that you're not telling me?" She asked her… husband. He just looked at her. He wanted to give her answers but he didn't know what to say and what to leave out. "They are not brothers. They look similar but there is a lot about them that is not the same. What are you not telling me?" This time the question wasn't just directed at him it was meant for all of us. She seemed pretty close to angry.

_You haven't seen angry. _Anthony thought.

"He's their biological father." They hoped that this would be enough for her. It was a vain hope.

"Why would you feel the need to keep that from me?" He contemplated lying to her and decided it would be stupid because she would hunt down the truth and eventually find it. Then she'd really be mad.

"I didn't want to you to find out this way." He paused, wondering if this was the best decision. "You're their mother. Their biological mother." He continued when it came to him that she'd always thought of herself as their mother.

Bella was stunned. "Tell me everything." She said after about a minute of absolute silence. I wanted to explain this but I didn't know how to.

"You had them before you lost your memory. You were pregnant when I met you. It was a difficult time in your life and you didn't tell me much about it so I don't have a lot to tell you. He left you before either of you knew you were pregnant." As much as he resented me for this he put it in the best light possible because he knew it would help nothing to stir up conflict now. "This is the first time they've met him."

Bella reached out and the twins took her hand.

"Bella I'm sorry. I didn't know. I would never have left if I'd known." I told her truthfully. She wasn't even looking at me. It was like I hadn't even talked. She was looking at him. She had a smile on her face that none of us could understand.

"Just when I think you couldn't do anything that could make me love you more, you surpass all my expectations." She said with a somewhat shaky voice.

This was hard to listen to.

Carlisle's phone started ringing. It distracted him and all the others from the pity that I thought would soon drown me. Billy Black was calling.

There was no way this could be good.


	5. Chapter 5

**Things have changed**

**EPV**

Carlisle went to take the call in another room to be polite. Bella was sitting on a table talking to our children. "We're not your children." Anthony said without looking at me.

"Give him a chance. So he dumped me in high school. It happens. He left me, not you." I had not expected Bella to come to my aid but when you look at it the way she did it doesn't seem like much to be angry about. Like we were some high school fling. Like I was nothing more to her than a mistake she made and she can't be bothered to even care. Amazing what can change in ten years.

I wasn't the only surprised person. Charles was looking at her with a puzzled expression. "We're gonna die someday." She said to him. "At least this way we know they'll have people."

Carlisle came back into the room hesitantly. A brief glance at Bella told her it had something to do with her. "Out with it." She said when he did not talk. Jasper calmed his nerves.

"Billy Black just called me." He stopped because he didn't know how to put this into words.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" it may not have meant anything to Bella but it seemed to mean something to Charles. "Anthony."

"The son of Billy Black's late friend is sick. No one knows what's wrong." Anthony relayed.

"Would you like to tell me the rest? Maybe before I die of old age." She asked leaning against Eli's shoulder and closing her eyes. Bella thinks too much about death.

"All his bodily function ceased."

"Who does he think I am? Jesus Christ?" Bella interrupted. "I can't raise the dead."

"He was, now he's not anymore." This made little sense to most people in the room.

"I'm going to go put on a jacket." It seemed to make perfect sense to Bella. Each twin turned a cheek towards her and she gave them kisses. Of course Charles had to go and tag her tonsils with tongue.

"He's entitled. Comes with being a husband." Anthony said under his breath. He seems to like me even less than Charles and his brother. How did I end up on the outside looking in?

"You left and locked the door behind yourself." Anthony informed me again. It was true though. I had no one else to blame.

"They're about four hours away. On a small Indian reservation on the coastline." Carlisle explained as she was leaving the room. We all knew getting into an argument with the twins would be stupid and premature. Apparently avoidance was the popular tactic.

"They can come here." Charles answered in an authoritative voice. Bella continued out of the room. "Christ! Is there a sign on my back that says 'come into my life if I'd rather not have you there?'" he said when Bella had left the room. Charles was determined not to let her go anywhere near Forks or La Push. He's definitely hiding something.

"Why don't you want her to go back to her home?" I asked him. Maybe this would make him think of the reason. What I forgot to factor in was that Charles has years of practise hiding his thoughts.

"_This_ is her home. Someone might recognise her." He said this like I should understand.

"So what if they do? It would be good for her to have a life outside of you. Are you afraid she'll prefer her old life to this? Is that why you're hiding her?" I was on my feet and so was he.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." He turned to Carlisle and said, "Tell them to come here. Tell them not to say one word to Bella about her life there. One word from them and I swear to God their son will not be treated at my hospital."

As he said this I knew he meant it. Either Charles did not value human life at all or whatever he was hiding was big enough for him to be willing to let a man die to keep hidden. "You would actually let him die to keep your secrets." He didn't even flinch. "How do you sleep at night?"

"With Izzy under me." The bastard said. That was hardly necessary. Shows you how much respect he has for her.

"You know nothing about my father."Anthony said getting to his feet. My family did not know what I had been thinking but they assumed it was out of jealousy. Charles knew I would think ill of him and he didn't care. He put his hand on Anthony's shoulder. Anthony sat back down.

What could we do for four hours that would not end with us ripping each other's throats out? "Ignore each other." Was Eli's idea. The water started running upstairs.

"I have something far more interesting in mind." Charles said as he started having improper thoughts about Bella.

"Yellow." The twins said in unison. Charles put his hands up and left the room.

"You actually have a safe word." Emmett laughed. Trust him to catch on fast to anything vaguely related to sex.

"Best thing we've ever thought of." Eli said before lying on the carpet.

"What are you doing?" Emmett was suddenly bold. Well Eli didn't seem to hate him.

"I'm going to sleep. Have you any idea how gross it is to see your parents have sex?" He said as he put his head down.

"Completely repulsive." Anthony said as he put his head on the table.

"Why are you sleeping on the floor? The table?" He asked them.

"Blame mom. She started doing weird things like sleeping on the floor when she came back. It sort of became normal after that." Eli answered.

"Got back from where?" Alice piped in.

_You idiot. _Anthony thought at his brother.

"I don't know and don't push the subject. Don't ask dad either. No good can come of that." _And I'd be toast. _He was asleep as soon as his eyes were closed.

"I'm taking a walk." I couldn't sleep but there was just no way I was gonna watch this.

"There are things that need to be done Edward." Carlisle said, "We have to borrow some supplies and equipment from the hospital. There's no way we could treat a werewolf without raising some red flags."

And stealing won't? I didn't say it. There was no safe option.

We were about to risk our necks for people we called enemies. Someone who hadn't trusted us with their land was about to trust us with their life. A lot has changed in the past ten years.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: A good bit of the medicine in this chapter is bullshit. I'm allowed to swear in my authors note rite? Please leave me review, it lets me know what you like. **

**Who let the dogs in?**

**EPV**

"The whole pack is coming." Carlisle said as a warning.

"Don't worry Carlisle. There's like what? 3 of them, 7 of us, 1 of them is injured and they need our help, the list goes on." He said with a shrug.

"There are 16 of them now." Carlisle announced.

"Thank goodness for this big house then." Emmett replied.

"Incoming." Anthony said. We had finished stealing all that we could steal and manipulating our way into the rest. The pack had just arrived. Even in their human forms they looked like a pack of wolves. Carlisle went out to greet them along with Charles. Bella had her feet on the table and humming along with a song that was playing in the background. "You're ruining it mom." Anthony said putting a cup of coffee on the table.

"Hey it takes a lot of talent to sing out of tune. That's how they come up with originals." She said pinching his cheek. The affection in this family was peculiar.

Outside cold civilities were being exchanged. I understood why the wolves didn't like Carlisle. They were natural enemies. What I didn't understand was why Charles didn't like the pack. They came inside and greeted us. Quil Ateara was the patient. They were instructed not to tell Bella anything about her former life either so the natural course of action was introductions. Another thing that made no sense. We had to play by Charles' rules because we needed acceptance into his family. What possible reason could the pack have for keeping his secret? it's not like he could keep her from treating Quil without having to tell her himself.

Quil extended his hand. "I'm-"

"Lazarus." Bella finished for him and stared straight into his eyes while the others chuckled tensely. Confusion was running around in the minds in the room as she did not stop staring. She tilted her head and said, "You remind me of something, I just can't think of what it is." Maybe there was hope for her memories. Before the silence got too awkward Sam went to introduce himself and the others. At least he tried.

"I'm-"

"Don't care. This may not be a hospital but it isn't a sorority either. Patient, go lie on that bed. The rest of you, stay out of my way." Quil was stubborn about being in bed. "Next your heart might not miraculously restart." Were Bella's words of encouragement.

_Never thought I'd regret leaving Leah behind._ Sam thought. This sentiment was shared by most of the pack.

We spent the next day sneaking in and out of the hospital, running tests and coming up with absolutely nothing. Sure he had a fever but what wolf didn't. We spent the day after that being a pain in Quil's ass (his words) asking him about every insignificant detail of his life. By day three we had exhausted all options right along with all friendliness. Fourth day, Embry went into cardiac arrest. Did I mention how stupid it was to be away from a hospital in a situation like this?

The pack started getting paranoid. Maybe it was something that would kill them all. They would have blamed us but we weren't there when this first happened.

Bella walked into the living room which Quil had been confined to. We fell silent. "I've been nice." This was met with a lot of scoffing. She ignored this. "I ignored the secret because we still had options. We're out of options and the next time you die," she pointed to Quil, "may very well be the last. Now what the hell is it that makes the room fall silent when I walk in?"

We all hate each other for reasons we can't really explain without telling you about all the other things we can't explain. I did not think this would go down nicely. The secret she suspects us of keeping really isn't relevant to the matter at hand. We can't tell her regardless.

"You slept with him." Charles, of course. Does it always have to come back to me and Bella's virtue?

"I am aware." She folding her arms.

"No, you're not." He sighed, "I'm not talking about Edward. I'm talking about Jacob." He said looking at her. I know I had no right but I wanted to rip his throat out. "It didn't end well and you're not known for your forgiving nature. I was gonna tell you over whiskey when they'd left." He smiled.

She sat in his lap and spoke into his ear. "You're hiding something." Hallelujah! She has seen the light. "The fact that you're lying to me right now tells me that it's irrelevant to my healthy, dying patient. We'll talk." Then she turned around and said, "Now which one of you is Jacob?"

Rosalie was thinking of a few names she thought Bella deserved. Jasper sent a wave of calm over me before I could do anything I would regret.

Bella had a strangely short conversation with Jacob. I thought she'd want to know more seeing as she had been… intimate with him. She walked out of the room and came out of the kitchen eating an apple.

Charles whistled. The rude prick. She struck a flirtatious pose. Apparently she found this appealing. And she used to be so shy. Is anything the same? "Are you testing me? Because you know I'll push the button." He said.

"Baby you wouldn't find the button with both hands and a map." Suddenly she turned around. "Self-destruct button .Berry aneurism." She said running into his arms. She kissed him, which made me take a little longer than I should have to find the place where Berry aneurism was located in my brain. "We just couldn't find the button because the map was so large." She chuckled at this.

Sam asked what was going on. Bella explained to him what that the aneurisms were pressing up against the part of the brain that controlled the heart. We just needed to cut it out and they would be fine. "Your father probably had the same thing." She said looking at Embry, who told her that it was Quil's dad in the medical history.

"It's genetic." She paused and looked around. "I won't comment on the 15 people in the room who don't seem surprised by this. News flash: it's not a scandal when all the involved parties are dead. Take them to the hospital." She said looking at us. "Come cut into someone's head." She said to Charles with frightening cheerfulness.

Now that the problem was about to become history, the pack thought it was the perfect time to raid the fridge. The brothers went to the hospital with the Alpha. Rose, Carlisle and I also went. Emmett stayed and played video games with the twins. They seem to like him. I'm entitled to my jealousy in this situation. Everyone else went home.

Charles had to operate on two stubborn wolves because our help was suddenly unwanted. They really believe we'd dine on werewolf? Bella had fallen asleep in a chair. Charles came in and was a little irritated to find we were still here. He ignored us and woke Bella. He took two steps to leave and fell over. The first thing we noticed, maybe due to its frequency, was the absence of the sound of a beating heart.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: This very early update is for NotSoSlightlyCrazy. Thanks for reviewing me. I thought I should put you out of your misery as soon as possible and yes, it would be nice if you kept liking my story.**

**Secrets**

**EPV**

Charles' heart took longer to restart than the wolves. Bella was calm and focused till he was in the operating room. No one knows better than I do that time is the worst thing you can have in this situation. Anthony put his arm around her as though trying to physically hold her together. Eli held her hand. "He's gonna be alright mom." He said squeezing it.

"Of course he's gonna be alright. The others were. Why wouldn't he be?" she said with a determined look on her face. Bella had one hell of a poker face. Looking at her you couldn't see the panic but we could all hear the frantic beating of her heart.

"You saved his life you know." Jacob tried to console her. "If you hadn't figured this out-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Anthony glared at him. Alice wanted to comfort Bella. There was truly nothing more painful than being a stranger to someone you loved.

Jacob tried a different approach. "Your parents would have been proud." As soon as the words left his mouth we all realised his mistake.

"You knew my parents." It wasn't a question. "I suppose the tense confirms that they really are dead." She looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry." He said earnestly.

"I didn't know them." She replied with a shrug.

"I didn't know your mom but I did know your dad." He made the decision to go on, "Charlie was a man of few words. He liked to fish and he loved you... He was the chief of police." He added when he didn't get a response. One thing hasn't changed about Bella. She does the thing I least expect. She laughed and noted a detail that didn't surprise the rest of us because we already knew it.

"My husband and my father have the same name." Eli was the first to join her.

"Talk about daddy issues." He said. At that the other people in the room started laughing too. Leave it to Bella to jump to the morbid part of this conversation. "What happened to them?" she asked sitting up. The room became quiet. A heavy, angry silence. The pack avoided looking at us but for some reason they thought we were to blame.

"Your father had a heart attack." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye like I'd given Charlie a heart attack from the other side of the world.

"And my mother?" she prompted.

"She died in a fire." He said looking at his feet.

"There's something you're not telling me. It's pretty obvious from your body language." He didn't answer. "I'm not going to fall apart."

"It was arson." He said. As he said this, the thoughts in the room began to fill in the rest of the story. We had just left Forks. Bella had disappeared as well. Victoria was hunting her, though they did not know this at the time. She smoked Bella out by burning her mom and her mom's husband because the pack kept her from getting Charlie. Oh my God! I really was to blame. I walked dejectedly from the room while Jacob gave her the story the public got, gang members on drugs.

I knelt outside in the dirt and cried. "Edward what's wrong?" Esme asked putting her arm around my shoulders.

"It's my fault," I explained between sobs. They immediately told me it was not. When I had gotten the story out my family didn't know what to say. They blamed themselves as well. We sat out in the rain not talking to each other. Alice and Esme had started crying too. Carlisle was the first to speak.

"Maybe it's better that Bella is without her memories… and I don't mean for us." He cleared up. "I mean for her. She's likely to blame herself." He said remembering her nature.

"If keeping her past from her stops her from feeling the way we do now then it's the least we can do." Jasper said from behind Alice's shoulder.

"Maybe we should leave. Not Seattle, the hospital. Just for tonight." Esme suggested.

Rosalie got up. "If we leave now she'll know we're hiding something. She's probably getting suspicious as we speak." She turned around and the others followed her. When I didn't go with them she turned and said, "Wallowing in guilt won't help her or the situation." She was right. If I acted like I'm doing now she'd catch on and fast. I followed the others back inside.

"What the hell?" Bella asked when she saw our appearance.

"We all have dead parents." Rosalie saved us and shared strange laughter with Bella. When did Rosalie start understanding Bella better than the rest of us?

"He's awake." Crawford said to Bella.

"Thank you, Jack." She said with obvious relief.

"Say that again. My recorder wasn't on." He laughed.

"My ungrateful gene is incapacitated by those who save my husband's life." She said hugging him.

"Go to him." He said touching her hand. "Before the judge arrives." He added with a smirk.

"You called Judge Bass?" it was Eli's turn to laugh. "You saved my dad from an aneurism to have him die in an explosion?"

"You need to learn to share. You're not the only one who was worried about him. Play nice with the other kids, okay?" Crawford said to Bella.

"Other _kids_? Who else is coming?" Bella asked.

"Me." A tall blond said after she turned the corner.

Bella turned towards Crawford. "You're kidding me, right?" he just put his hands up and walked off.

The pack went to Quil and Embry's room. Bella and the twins went to Charles' room. The blond went to drink water. Sitting out in the passage would be a sure sign of guilt. Bella and the twins sat by the bed and we stayed an unobtrusive distance away.

"If you scare me like that again I'm going to kill you." She said as she pecked his cheek.

"The judge is coming." Anthony blurted.

"You called my dad?" he asked Bella with genuine surprise.

"Your dad and I blend about as well as picric acid and sodium hydroxide." was her answer.

"Who called him?" he turned to the twins and then to us.

"I did." The woman from earlier walked in.

He sighed and looked at Bella, "Who called her?"

"My interaction with your ex-wife is equally volatile." She replied.

"Nice to see you too Isabella. I work here Charles, remember? You screwed enough nurses to know us all by our faces at the very least." She answered.

"Turn around and bend over, maybe he'll recognise you." Bella suggested.

"Izzy… Lighten up Kindle." Charles already looked tired.

"I married you, didn't I?" she folded her arms.

"I'm surprised _he_ married _you_ but then again your name does mean 'to arouse'." Bella folded her arms and turned to Kindle.

Emmett was snickering in the corner.

"And break." Eli said, "Back to your corners."

Just as the atmosphere when the room lightened, a tall man, who looked a little like Charles, walked into the room and said, "Where the hell do you get off having brain surgery and not telling me?"

Charles touched Bella's arm just as she was about to speak and said, "Nice of you to join us Judge. Would you kindly explain how I had the very same genetic disease as two brothers from the middle of nowhere?"

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	8. Chapter 8

**Finding your place in the world**

**EPV**

"Can you spell coincidence?" the judge asked his son. He ignored pretty much everyone else in the room with the exception of handing Alice his coat.

"I could," Charles replied, "before I remembered the legends you told me about being descended from wolves."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Bass snr asked with a blank expression.

"There is a pack of wolves down the hall." Charles said gripping his sheets.

"I don't get the metaphor." The judge replied when no further explanation was offered.

"That's because it's literal." Charles replied a bit louder than necessary.

The judge turned his eyes on Bella. "Don't look at me. I know even less than you do." She said.

"Where do I come from?" Charles asked.

"Well son, you know when two people love each other-"

"Don't play games with me." Charles shouted then added in a pleading tone, "Not today. Not about this."

Judge Bass turned and looked pointedly at us. Ever the tactful one, Esme said, "We're going to get some coffee." We went to the waiting room. Kindle went to start her shift. The twins were thrown out right after us. The judge wanted to have this conversation alone with his son but he knew better than to even try to get Bella to leave. Charles would never allow that and neither would Bella.

"5 says dad's adopted." Anthony said to Eli. Emmett wanted in on the bet. He also thought Charles was adopted. It's not likely that- I stopped that thought right in it's tracks. Emmett was right, it's unfair to play with someone who can see your cards.

"I say he's not." I spoke up. The twins looked at each other. Eli shrugged.

He is definitely the more forgiving of the two.

"He's a sucker." Anthony responded. Emmett thought he was talking about me. We didn't go all the way to the other side of the hospital to the cafeteria . We stood in the adjacent hall and eavesdropped. Not the most constructive activity with your children but I'd take what I could get. "We're not your children," Anthony felt the need to point out.

The story came together slowly and painfully. Charles' mother was Quileute. Another thing she was, was married. Judge had an affair with Charles' mother. Her husband found out and threw her out. By this time she was already pregnant. She had another son but she decided to go back for him after she'd had Charles since it would surely mean a fight. She died in childbirth.

After a little debate and fact exchange it was determined that Quil and Embry were Charles' nephews. Bella volunteered to relay this information and since there was no correct way to tell someone about their family's secrets so Bella's bull in a china shop approach won the day. Once she'd told them, by announcing that she's their aunt, she went back to Charles' room and left the wolves with gaping mouths. Neither Bella nor Bass snr left his room, which made conversing hard for all three.

Emmett handed $5 to Eli who laughed at him and pointed out that no one had said anything about money. Emmett had to devote 5 days to the service of Eli Bass. "Let's swap." Anthony said to Emmett.

"I've been riding you since you crawled out of the womb. I want a new bitch." Eli said with a smile.

"Buy a dog." Anthony was not in a good mood right now.

Eli found the situation too amusing to stop. "This is kinda like that wife swap reality show. Emmett lives at our house and you become a lapdog at the Cullens'."

"That'll be a cold day in hell." Anthony said through gritted teeth.

"You seem to think this is optional." Eli was still amused.

"Kind of is." Anthony said walking away. "It's not like you're gonna make me."

Emmett thought of "making" Anthony with the most playful smile I'd seen in ten years. "Mom would kill you." Anthony brought him back to Earth, "and then she would kill you." He looked at me. "And since we're too old to settle this with a fist fight," he said to Eli, "I'm out." He bowed theatrically.

"What happened to being bound by honour?" Eli asked getting to his feet.

"What the hell does he know about honour?" Anthony gestured with a hand in my direction.

What do you do when your children are angry enough at you to say such a thing to your face?

Anthony lowered his voice. This only made it more menacing. "Call me your child _one_ more time…_please_." It was a challenge.

"Will you never forgive me then?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Not if I live a thousand years." He said before turning and walking straight into Leah. Oh this is going to be ugly.

Judging by Anthony's current anger and Leah's reputation, we would be picking up pieces of one of them of them off floor so imagine my surprise, and everyone else's, when they didn't tear each other to shreds. Instead Anthony caught Leah and didn't let go.

It was like the world had stopped for both of them.

I'd been inside the pack's mind enough in the past week to know what imprinting was and how to recognise it. The pack, however, had never gotten inside the mind of the wolf's mate. Was it this intense for them as well or was that a half vampire thing?

Anthony could read minds so he knew that he and Leah were in the same love bubble. What he did next had me wondering if it was because of what had just happened or if it was another talent he had. He touched the side of her face and conveyed to her all he was feeling in that moment. She curled her hand around his neck and kissed him. Without the guidance of telepathy and background knowledge on imprinting, this seemed a little freaky.

_I suppose that's one way to get to know someone. _Emmett, of course.

Bella came around the corner, spotted the happy couple and said, "Eli, why does your brother have his tongue inside a stranger's mouth?" when he didn't answer she said, "I'd ask him but swapping spit is not conducive to coherent conversation."

"He's home." He said, "He's found his place in the world."

**I need reviews please. it helps me cater to youe preferences.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Thank u 4 all the reviews. I'm doing this chapter from Charles' point of view. Hope you like it. If you're stuck on what to say in review please leave a smiley face (or a sad one).

**Lost**

**EPV**

It seemed like everything was coming together. My family were slowly being accepted by some of the Bass family members. They were happier than they'd been in years. Everyone was happy. Everyone was in love. Everything was finally coming together and I didn't have a place in it.

**Candy**

**CPV **(and by C I mean Charles)

I was sitting in my office at home contemplating the universe, and by universe I mean my wife. Having found out that Leah was a werewolf she expressed the desire to meet a witch, seeing as the other myths were true, or perhaps make out with a fairy, seeing as she'd had sex with a vampire. Anthony was showing Leah around Seattle. It was like neither of them had ever seen it before. Eli was sulking under a bar. Yet another member of the Bass family who had difficulty sharing. Izzy was taking a bath. Something she never did alone.

"Hey." I hadn't heard her come in.

"Hey." I said naturally. Surprise is something I haven't expressed in years. She stood in front of me and dropped her gown. I could hear my heart racing. Afternoon sex is not something you can do at home when you have two telepathic children. Afternoon sex is candy. You got it if you did something really good or you just got stabbed with a really big needle. I've been a good boy, right?

I grabbed her hips and watched as my fingers sunk into her tender white flesh. I lifted her and put her on the table. Her breathing was accelerating. I felt her hands, still warm from the bath, slip into the waistband of my pants. She pulled them down to my knees, lay back and put her feet on the table. _Oh_ _God._ I would never get used to the site of Isabella spread out for me.

I ran my index finger down her outer labia. I felt the small vibrations of her shaking and saw the moisture form at her opening. My middle finger dipped in it of its own accord. My heart was beating so loudly I could barely hear the sound of her laboured breath. I bent over and trailed my tongue down her sex. She moaned and one of her feet slipped off the table. I put it behind my shoulder as I made slow circles with my tongue on her clit. She turned my name into a moan. My erection was throbbing.

I gripped her hips and kept her from moving. Sucking her clit gently I moved my mouth back and forth. She said my name in a low breathy voice. She said it again and again like a prayer. The sound of her voice got louder. I felt her hand in my hair. When she didn't get my attention with a gentle tug she clutched a handful of it and pulled my upper body on top of her.

I spread her legs and put my almost painful erection at her entrance. A moan escaped my lips as I entered her. I pushed myself in to the hilt. Her head fell back and she cried out. I pulled out slowly and thrust back into her. My whole body was on fire. It was like I could feel her everywhere. I stood up straight and watched myself disappear into her warmth and emerge coated in her sweet juices. "Faster." She commanded curling her hand into a fist against the wood. I complied with a sound that was more beast than man."Harder." she said in a pitch that was heightened by my sudden thrust.

I leaned forward, supported my body on my elbows and looked into her laden eyes as I thrust into her hard and fast. Our moans filled the room like music and I could feel myself come undone. "Izzy." I didn't hear myself say her name but I felt her respond by wrapping her legs around me and allowing me to go deeper into her heat. "Izzy." I said again, this time as a warning. I was done for. She called half my name. The other half was slowed by a cry as she clenched around me. I saw her eyes roll back into her head before the world exploded. I emptied myself into her to the melody of her cries of pleasure.

She relaxed under me and I pulled out and sat down before I could collapse on her. We stayed this way till our breathing was back to normal. She got off the table and bent till our faces were level, "You didn't kiss me, at least not on the mouth." I pulled her into my lap and kissed her. A slow, deep kiss. She pulled back and put her head on my chest. "I love you, Charles."

"You fill my heart." I replied. She pecked me on the cheek and went to retrieve her gown. I leaned back in my chair to get a better view as she bent over to pick it up. I watched my cum run down the back of her thigh. Of course she caught me. She laughed and came back and sat on the spot on my desk with a wet spot created by our body fluids.

"Sex is a messy business, isn't it?" she smiled at me. She wiped my answering smile off my face with her next question, "What happened to Aaron?"

I just got stabbed with a really big needle.

The fact that she asked means she doesn't believe what she knows. Izzy's curiosity was like stage for cancer. Your options were pretty limited once you were its object. You can go with informed consent in the form of a confession, you can do a risky operation called lying and die on the table or you can wait to die a slow painful death by letting her investigate. I knew I had to confess but how do I tell her this story without having her think she killed my best friend?

**That was my first lemon so tell me what you thought of it. If doing that makes you blush look over your shoulder, nobody's watching. Well at least that's what I told myself when I wrote this in a public lab.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: There are these things the economics department likes to make us write. They're time consuming, nerve wrecking and generally known as tests. Now that that's over, back to the dead best friend. This is going to be a little weird. I tried different points of view in this chapter and this is the only one that would work. Weird part: it's mostly a dead guy's point of view. **

**BPOV**

"That makes zero sense," I told him, "Why would a guy who could barely tolerate me die so I could live?"

"He did it for me." Charles looked at me earnestly.

My husband is a good man. He is a lying, manipulative, arrogant, good man. This spoils him for most people but makes him just right for me. The thing I love about Charles' lying is that it's convincing. I learned time long ago that there is no comfort in the truth. Aaron's story is one I have to know though. My problem here is that even though Charles lies to me more than he does to anyone else in the world I still need him to confirm the truth before I can believe it. He's the only person I can really trust. It sounds absolutely, bloody ludicrous but my logic always does.

"I want to see the note." I told him.

**Aaron's POV**

I woke up with a fast pounding heart but remained still. That was the most terrifying dream I have ever had. Fine, I get the point, I'll be nicer to her.

I went to Charles' house for breakfast. I let myself in. I may or may not have stolen the housekeeper's spare key. "Chuckie." I greeted him.

"You know I detest that name." he answered. Déjà vu.

"And I detest that suit." It was just too weird to see him in it.

"What are you talking about? You love this suit." He said sitting down.

"That was before you had a heart attack wearing it." I said under my breath. Isabella came into the room wearing jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt that was four sizes too big for her. At least she wasn't wearing the t-shirt that I'd seen her brains on but I get it, I'll be nice to my best friend's sociopath wife."Good morning Isabella." I said with an almost genuine smile.

"How the hell do you know what kind of a damn morning it is?" she asked pouring coffee. What killed me about Isabella was the way she said things. If you put her on mute you'd think she was saying something nice.

"Oh for the love of God." I said to the ceiling. Charles typically stayed out of these exchanges.

"I don't believe in him." She responded giving Charles a kiss goodbye. I doubt she was even 90 pounds but she refused to eat breakfast and I rarely saw her at any table where food was served. Charles had explained the reason for this and it made it hard to comment on the topic of Isabella and food.

"Satan's mistress." I couldn't help mumbling.

"Don't believe in him either." She replied walking out of the room. The woman could hear needles fall in a crowded room.

I felt fingers pressing painfully into the back of my hand. "Don't." Charles said with a grimace.

I just put my hands up in surrender. Charles would defend Isabella no matter how far she was in the wrong. When a man loves a woman this much it's dangerous. This thought made me hang my head and shake it. "I'm trying to get her to talk to someone." He told me.

"The woman doesn't need a doctor. She needs an exorcist." I poured juice to avoid seeing how he took that.

"She isn't that bad." The poor, blind man told me.

"Sure. That's why everyone hates her." Another fact he was in denial about.

"Hate is a strong word." He said before lifting his toast to his mouth and taking a bite. And this is the man who made a woman learn the whole table setting before he introduced her to his father. If I had to say one good thing about Isabella I'd say she made Charles a human being.

"The good Samaritan wouldn't spit on fire to put her out." And he knew it just as well as I did.

"People don't understand her." I could tell he honestly believed this. "If you just took the time and tried to understand her I think you two could get along." He has to be joking. "I take the time to listen. Can you guess what I've noticed?" he asked with a serious face. Oh great.

"Is there any way I can eat my breakfast and not hear you justify her… behaviour?" I asked.

"You can stop eating you breakfast with me. And I'm not justifying, I'm explaining." I failed to see the gulf he obviously saw between the two.

"Usually her remarks are humorous. The only time they're ever tainted with malice is when you decide to quote the bible." He said this as if I should have noticed. No man ever studied his wife the way Charles studies Isabella, of course most wives are a little more forthcoming than her.

"What do you want me to do? Give up my religion for your wife?" I had done a wide spectrum of things for Charles because his wife required them but a line had to be drawn somewhere.

I didn't realise I was on my feet until he got to his. "Just don't quote the bible at her. Is that to for me to ask of my brother?" he pleaded. Charles was like a brother to me but he was getting dangerously close to playing that card too much.

"Charles you're my brother. I would give my life for you but your wife-"

"She's my life!" he shouted, "Can you honestly tell me you don't see that?" he asked in a more subdued tone.

I saw it. I saw it before he saw it but it was something I never wanted either of us to ever admit. That just made it so much more real and anyone could see Isabella was self-destructing, even Charles. What he refused to see was that he couldn't stop it.

"We're going to be late." I said. There was nothing to say. He may as well have told me he had a terminal disease. I didn't think he'd take it well if I said I was sorry. We left the uneaten meal and drove in separate cars.

The whole day I was haunted by the dream. It was like a prophecy of what Charles told me. God was trying to give a heads up. I just missed what it was about. I would have disregarded it if my driver hadn't said, "How can anyone stand to be drunk before sundown? If you ask me the latest Mrs Bass is below the bar, pun intended."

I let him mouth of too much, "I didn't ask you. Take me to the bar." I instructed.

Yesterday I dreamed of how my brother's wife would die and how he would die if she did. Charles was doomed because he wouldn't give up on Isabella and I was doomed because I wouldn't give up on him.

I believed in destiny. Seeing as I was about to fuck with it I thought I should have insurance. I wrote a note. When the car stopped I got out and handed it to my driver. "If I'm not back in an hour, go home and give this to Charles in the morning." I slipped him the post-it and went into the bar. I called 911 as I made my way to the back and reported an accident I was 97% sure would happen. I gave myself 3%, which was generous, seeing as God had already made up his mind about this.

She already had the car running when I got to her. I jumped in. By the time she noticed me she had already laid down 10 yards of rubber. Why people made cars that went from zero to a hundred in 4.2 seconds is beyond me.

"Aaron." She said with all the shock she could manage in her state.

"Charles loves you, Isabella. If you won't pick up the broken pieces for yourself, do it for him." I hoped I was getting through to her.

"Charles, he loves me more than I deserve." She said. A tear slid down her eye and she took her foot off the accelerator. I closed my eyes in relief.

"I don't hate you." I told her. When she didn't respond I opened my eyes to see a passed out Isabella and a tree coming fast. If I knew this road well then hitting that tree was our only chance at not plummeting to our death. My last memory of that day was the pinch in my palm when my hand got caught fastening her seatbelt before the world as I knew it disappeared into oblivion.

**BPOV**

Aaron gave his life for mine when I didn't give a damn about myself. I wasn't going to waste my time on guilt. The fact that Charles hid this from me tells me I've wasted enough time on it. I looked at Aaron's last words for the time that would be the first of many.

_Charles, My brother_

_I know you love your wife_

**Drop me a review**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: If I tell you something, I'll ruin the surprise. If I don't, you'll hate me. Tell you what, read the next two chapters before you decide how you feel about this story. And leave me an angry review if it helps.**

**The truth Part One**

**EPV**

"Stop." Alice said as I headed for the door.

"What harm could it possibly do for me to know?" I asked her.

"I don't know and neither do you. Leave it alone." She said loudly enough to call Jasper from their room.

"You don't want to know about what altered your best friend so drastically?" I knew she wanted to. Everyone did. They were just afraid. I'm not sure what of because they don't know themselves.

"Has it ever been good? Has anything we've found out about her past ever been worth knowing?" Jasper sided with Alice.

"Anything about Bella is worth knowing." I told him. It mattered to me and if it turned out to be information she'd be better off without then I wouldn't tell her. "So I take it you won't come with me then." Jasper would never go against Alice. I walked to the car.

All week I was away from Bella and the twins. All week I'd had nothing to do but think. Think about Bella, her children, her lost memories. I could not help noticing how everyone never spoke about it, how Charles didn't want her to ever found out. I'd taken the blame upon myself because I now knew walking out of her life had devastated her but now that was out in the open. She knew the children were ours, she knew I had acted despicably towards her and she'd taken this better than anyone had hoped, so why all the secrecy still? Whatever he was hiding was no longer about Bella.

What frightened me the most was her blind trust in him. She never asked about her past. She didn't even ask what her mother's name was. For someone who was known for being driven crazy by puzzles she was ignoring the biggest one. The fact that she let him decide what was right for her to know about her past is understandable but that level of trust is subject to abuse.

Before I knew it I had arrived at the hospital. This is where Bella had been treated six months after she'd trashed her sports car and escaped with only bumps and bruises. Finding even this information had been like finding Osama Bin Laden, miraculous. I had an appointment with a doctor who was doing research in strange treatments or rather procedures. I walked past his secretary and into his office.

"Good morning Mr Cullen. How can I help you?" he said cordially. This man was a snake. You could see it just by looking at him.

"You can help me by telling me what you did to Isabella Swan." I got straight to the point. The memories that started filling his mind made me want to kill him and his entire division but mostly Charles. He remembered a conversation with Charles about a risky procedure that had almost no medical grounds and violated more ethical codes than were written down.

"You cut into her perfectly healthy temporal lobe?" I roared before I could care that he hadn't said anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about nor could I discuss it with you if I did." He said calmly. He was no stranger to conflict. His fear did not break the cool exterior. In any case I had no intention of taking this up with him right this moment. I would make sure he was stripped of his licence later. My object at the moment was Charles.

I turned without a word and headed for my car as slowly as I could manage. I didn't care what he wanted to hide so badly that he would risk seizures and a wide variety of dangerous complications and outcomes in his wife that he would have someone cut into her brain. I just wanted to rip his head off for endangering her life like that and God knows how else. If he could do this then I didn't know of anything he wouldn't do.

I could hear the panicked thoughts of my family. They wouldn't beat me to the house though. I didn't have time knock so I took the door off the hinges. The twins were the first to come to the door. He was close behind them. "You evil, megalomaniacal bastard." I spat as our eyes met. He was calm, wondering what I would say to justify this act of jealousy. I felt hands clench each arm before I could get close enough. My family came pouring in and formed a line between us.

Bella ran down half the staircase and jumped to our level from a spot that was still too high and landed like a skilled gymnast. She came to stand right in my face and nobody made any attempt to hold her back. "Give me on good reason why I shouldn't permanently throw you all out of my house." She was seething. I could see the anger in her eyes and her effort to contain it with deep, even breaths.

"He's the one who took your memories away." I said a little more calmly than when I came through the door. She just cut her eyes at me. "He had that… doctor cut into your temporal lobe." She turned and looked at him. I saw her shoulders drop and knew she saw it on his face. The only thing I could hear from his mind was a sharp, repeated cry of no.

"Get out." She said in a low firm tone, looking at the wall of vampires in front of her.

"He cut out a piece of your brain and you want _us_ out?" I couldn't believe it.

"All of you. OUT!" she screeched. I could understand where she was coming from. The world as she knew it had changed. The whole narrative of her life had just crumbled. She'd need a little time.

"Iz-" He stepped towards her.

"I said get out! All of you, out of my house, NOW!" she screamed again when no one moved. The twins were the first to go. They didn't understand this. They had not known about it but refused to believe the worst about someone they held so dear. They also knew they could not reach Bella right now and even if they could they had nothing to offer her. Everyone followed behind them, shocked and silent. I was not leaving this house while he was still in it. I had no intention of killing him now that it appeared that she would soon be free of him.

"Where should I go?" he asked hoping that she would let him come back and manipulate her some more.

"To Hell." She said walking away from him.

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	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I see a few of you have removed me from your favourites. Have a little faith people. You'll kick yourself for not having seen it coming when it happens but if I tell you it will happen then it won't be any fun. The second half of the truth comes after this chapter. I know it seems weird to separate them but that chapter gives everything away.**

**All I've ever wanted**

**EPV**

Bella had been gone for 16 days. Alice was keeping track of her and we let her have her own time to sort things out. Charles had gone back to the house after she'd left, so had Anthony, Leah and Eli. Alice also gave them updates. We were all awaiting her return. "She's coming." Alice skipped excitedly into the room. "She's coming here." I couldn't have heard her right but I had.

"How long?" I asked her.

"About two hours." She beamed.

My family went hunting and I was left to pace the house. It could happen that she's mad at me. With her logic it probably looks like I ruined a good thing. She couldn't believe that, could she? I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I only heard her when she came in. She didn't look angry but she seldom did. She sauntered over to me without saying a word. I was finding it difficult to speak.

"Are you okay?" I managed.

"Yes." She said with a small smile, "I've decided how to… move forward."

"How?" I asked her.

"I'm at your house, at night," she unfastened the belt holding her trench coat together, "in lingerie." She slid it off her shoulders. I flashed over to her and held it together.

"You don't have to prove anything to me. Your presence here is enough." It was the naked truth. My mind is already going south. Great, I'm seeing sex in everything.

"I'm not trying to prove anything. I just happen to like sex. Now kiss me you stupid saint." She said looking into my eyes. A smile played on her lips as she said the last sentence. I let go of her coat and put my hands to her face. She let the gown fall to the floor and I had to close my eyes to compose myself.

I put my forehead on hers. "Bella, if I hurt you-"

"I'm a big girl Edward," she pushed me into a chair and straddled me. I wanted to explain to her that this intercourse between a human and a vampire was dangerous but she just put her hand over my mouth and said, "Let me drive."

She undid my belt and zipper as I caressed the soft skin of her back. I was shaken from bliss by the scars on her back. They were on the left side. Seven lines that were the same length and evenly spaced going down to the curve of her ass. "Did he do this to you?" I stopped her.

"You know better than to think that." She put my hand on her thigh. It was true. Even if he gave nothing away in his thoughts this is not something he could have slipped by the twins. There was an accident to justify the operation but nothing could have hidden that. They were minute signs that they were inflicted by another person. I vowed to find that person and make him or her pay.

I started caressing her thigh. I got up a tiny bit so she could pull down my pants. She pressed up against me and pushed them to my knees. I put my mouth to her nipple and sucked it through the lace. She reached down and stroked my member. I almost came at the contact. She stood up and lowered herself onto me. I put my hands behind my back to keep from hurting her. She whimpered and I almost thought my growling had frightened her.

She rocked against me until we were both sated. I put my arms around her and my head on her shoulder. Her head was still thrown back. "I've always loved you," I told her.

"I know." She stroked my hair.

We stayed up all night talking. We talked about the twins and the hell they raised before we came along and made everything serious. We talked about where to go from here. We talked about everything, with one glaring exception, Charles. I would not force her to speak of him till she was ready. I tried getting her to sleep but she would not hear of it.

"I have to go." She said at 7. "I'll see you at work."

"Would you like me to come with you?" I offered.

"This is something I have to do by myself." She put on her things and kissed me goodbye. This was the happiest day of my life. Ten years without Bella had taught me to appreciate her more than I thought possible. A month watching Bella with Charles had shown me what it was like to lose her love. The boys loved Charles but Bella was their mother, they'd come around. He'd be out of her life soon. The world was finally in the right place.

**I bet you really hate me now. One more chance, please. I promise it will be worth your while. If it isn't you can scrap me. This story sounds like it can never be salvaged, I know, that was the aim. Leave me a review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: you can't read this chapter and not leave me a review. Come on, play nice.**

**The Truth Part Two**

**CPV**

Isabella had been gone for 17 days. I knew better than to try and call her. She was most likely digging. I hoped to God she wouldn't find anything. Even if all the people involved were dead I was afraid. She always finds the truth when she sets her mind on it.

I sat in my office looking at her ring. She had never gone anywhere without it since the day I had put it on her finger. Even when we were divorced she'd worn it around her neck. I had taken a lot of shit from Aaron about this ring. He thought I was being ridiculous having bought a $7 million dollar diamond and a complete moron for letting her think it was a fake. She was flipping out about a five carat ruby, I told her it was a diamond and she assumed it was a fake, seeing as there were only 3 five carat red diamonds in the world. She was so relieved I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd bought the Moussaieff Red Diamond. And I'd thought women loved grand gestures, especially those that were weighed in carats.

It was surrounded by small, clear stones and set in two bands that melted together into one just as the disappeared between her fingers. She said it was how our lives were joined. I hadn't seen it off her finger since I'd put it back on, before I got thrown out of her class. I smiled at the memory and clutched the ring in my hand. I closed my eyes tightly, putting my head on my desk. Alice Cullen had called yesterday. Isabella had come back, she just hadn't come back to me.

"You took my ring." Came a voice from the door. I looked up to see Isabella leaning against the door in skinny jeans and her Revenge of the Nerd t-shirt. "I looked on my dresser when I came out of the shower and it was gone."

I couldn't decide whether to put it on her finger or throw it in her face so I just put it on the table. She came to the table, took it and put it back on her finger. "What the hell are you playing at?" I grabbed her arm as she turned for the door.

"All you need to know is that I'm not playing you." She had a devious smirk on her face.

"You slept with him." I wasn't asking. My wife's a complicated woman but eight years of practice made me better equipped for figuring her out. She was gonna crush him.

"Don't tell me you've caught the self-righteousness that's been going around." She tilted her head and looked up at me.

"I'm more concerned about _why_ you're doing this." I told her honestly. "The last man you did that to was me." Isabella had once said that the opposite of love wasn't hate but indifference and if you hated someone you still cared. You don't exert revenge if you don't care.

"I like my life. I don't need anyone poking around in it. This bitch bites." She pointed at her chest, "And if he has to see my teeth to believe that then so be it." She started walking out again. I grabbed her arm again.

I had been going insane for the last 2 weeks. I still wanted to strangle her. "This would have been so much easier to stomach if I'd had some forewarning." I hissed into her hair.

"I will apologise for that, it was cruel but," she paused and tilted her head to look at me, "If you're gonna loot the city, first you've gotta turn off the lights."

I let her go and walked behind her to the door. I still had something to say. I grabbed her arm again and threw her up against the wall. My knee was planted between her legs, my chest against hers and my hair fisted into her hair. She was breathing slowly and evenly. I lowered my mouth to her ear. "That was the last time Isabella." I told her, "You will never do that again." I pulled her hair and her head fell back. She still smirked.

"Yes daddy." She had her game face on. I wouldn't want to be Edward today, or any day after today. I still remember the pain of losing Isabella. She took no prisoners. I kissed her roughly. I pulled back when we were both breathless. "You need a bath." She spoke through her heavy breathing. "I'll go pick out that suit you love to wear when you gloat."

"I do not gloat, okay that's a lie but I do not have a suit love to gloat in." I started to strip as we walked.

"Ironically my memory is better than yours. It's your power suit… and when you're in a position of power you gloat." She went into the room and I jumped into the shower. She put in my cufflinks like she did every morning. I made her coffee, she liked it with cinnamon but could never make it quite right herself.

"Where are my most likely pissed off children?" she asked as we got into the car.

"They took the best of you and the worst of you." I told her.

"Teach them to sit in an office n sulk like you when they get home. They drink too much." She looked at me and put her foot on the seat. She was severely allergic to all things proper.

"Eli was complaining that he missed bitter, pissed off Anthony." I offered randomly.

"Not in the least surprised." She curled her arm around her shin. "Anthony and Leah are a little sickening." She shook her head as if trying to shake their image from it.

A lot of people looked at us in the parking lot. I was never late, she was never early and we never got here together. It was later than I usually arrived but we weren't late. She got up before I did every morning but arrived late just to irritate Crawford.

She wrapped her hand around my bicep. I looked briefly at her ring as we walked into the building. It was perfect for her. It represented the hearth that warmed our home and the fire that warmed my bed. But today, there would be blood.

**I gave you fair warning about her bitchiness. REVIEW ME.**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thank you for the reviews. **

**Control**

**EPV**

We were sitting around a table waiting for Bella to arrive. I was lost in my memories of last night when Alice's thoughts intruded in my head. She was looking for me and she'd brought Jasper but before I could see what all the panic was about Bella walked in, with _him_. The ring was back on her finger. How in the hell could he have convinced her to go back to him?

"Edward. I tried to call you-" Alice explained.

"Thank you for the effort but I think I already know what you were going to tell me." I cut her off looking at Bella's hand.

"You're going back to him." My sentence was flat.

"You're going with the assumption that I left." She answered in the same tone, looking me straight in the eye with her arms folded and her legs slightly parted. This was the stance she'd used when she spoke to _his_ father and _his _ex wife. Charles was leaning against the door with his hands in his pockets and an amused smirk on his face.

"You conniving bitch." I hadn't heard Rosalie come in. I looked around to see that the whole family was here.

"I do try." Bella was smiling like this was a game. Then I came to the realisation that that was exactly what it was to her. She hadn't left him to begin with. I had never imagined her capable of such an act of cruelty. Jasper was doing his best to keep the atmosphere in the room from getting too heated. I just stood there in a state of shock.

"Why would you do this to him?" Alice wanted to know.

"He was fucking with my life, thought I should show him it feels when someone turns everything upside down. And, as a bonus, we're now even on the universal scale of heart breaking." She had turned to face Alice.

"His intentions were noble-." Rosalie defended me.

"Mine were malicious," Bella cut her off, "But the outcome was the same. I prefer to drive on the road to hell rather than walk on it's pavement of good intentions. It's far less tiring." She moved her hands to her hips.

Charles was coming out of his smug bubble and wondering what else she knew if she knew I'd really broken her heart and it wasn't just a passing fling. This brought me back to life. All the men were standing back and letting the women hash this one out. Esme was never one to exchange harsh words.

"Bella-" I tried to get her attention.

"You shut the fuck up," she pointed at me, "You've had nothing to say for the past ten years, you weak son of a bitch." Worse things have been said in the English language but that hurt more than any insult that had ever been thrown at me.

"You have no idea how strong he had to be to stay away from you." Alice shook her head.

"You, Alice Cullen, are mistaking stubbornness for strength." Bella stepped into Alice's line of sight. She certainly had no fear of conflict. She turned her back on them and took a few steps with her in her hand in her hair before turning around, raising it and saying, "Did any of you, ever consider that being frozen forever at seventeen meant that he would never get over the stupidity of an adolescent boy?" her voice was a crescendo and she slowed down to emphasise certain words, like stupidity. No one had ever considered that so they weren't certain it wasn't valid.

"And you still thought he knew best." She shook her head.

"He cut out a piece of your brain." Emmett was bold enough to contribute, pointing at Charles and bending to Bella's eye level, "But that seems to be okay with you." Bella didn't reply. She just stared Emmett down.

"So it's okay for him to control you but not Edward." Rosalie captured Bella's attention again.

"Yes." She replied. If her actions didn't say otherwise, I would have thought she meant it. Bella treated everyday like it was casual Friday. Bella could buy whatever she liked even without his money. She just liked challenging anything that even vaguely resembled authority.

"Why?" Emmett wanted to know.

"That it not your business." She got in his face as if to intimidate him into letting it go.

"Fucking hypocrite." He stepped towards her.

"Emmett." Carlisle and Esme reprimanded at the same time. Charles curled his arm around Bella's stomach and dragged her from the big vampire. I stepped closer to Emmett. I had lost too much to make Bella safe to let a stupid argument take her away.

"Watch your damn mouth." Charles said to Emmett.

"She's a fucking hypocrite." Emmett felt as though he had been challenged, "How can she punish Edward for _trying_ to fuck with her life and let him get away with _actually_ fucking with her life by cutting out a part of her brain and not be a hypocrite?" he boomed.

"Because I asked him to!" she screamed in his face.

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	15. Chapter 15

**Pandora's Box**

**EPV**

"That's lunacy." Rosalie was the first to speak.

"It makes no sense." I thought out loud.

"Why?" Emmett blurted out.

"Knowing the answer to that would kind of defeat the purpose." Bella said as though talking to a child."You don't even really know if you wanted this," I pointed out.

"Oh I know." Bella assured me.

"How?" I asked her. So much of what we think is real is not, I should know. She looked up and sighed. Charles drew her into his chest and she complied.

"How _do_ you know, Iz?" he whispered in her ear.

"Now, Charles? Really?" she asked without looking at him.

"They're going to find out one way or another anyway so why punish me with suspense?" he reasoned.

"I wrote myself a letter and put it in my office." She said as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Bullshit," he said in a low calm voice, "Your curiosity is like a resistant strain of bacteria. That wouldn't kill it." He put his head on her shoulder and breathed in the scent of her hair. Bella had the back of her head on his chest and her eyes closed. As casual as it sounds, this seemed very intimate. Everyone looked away.

"And I left a photo." She said after another sigh. He stood straight like he'd just been stabbed in the spine.

"Iz," he sounded like he was whining. He put his hand on her arm but had no words to offer.

"A photo of what exactly?" Emmett voiced the dense curiosity.

"None of your business." Charles' eyes flashed.

"This is what I don't understand," I was still thinking, "It's as though this is your secret."

"We're married," he looked at me as he said this, the emphasis may have been imagined, "It's my secret by proxy."

"Things are different now," I spoke to Bella, "From what I can tell a lot of people think you took what happened between us very badly. You're not even phased by it now." I wanted to be happy about that but I couldn't be, no matter how hard I tried. "What you fear might not affect you anymore. It shouldn't be the reason you lose so much of your life."

"Shut up," Charles wanted the whole topic dropped, "You really have no idea what you're talking about."

"This has more to do with you than it has to do with Bella," Jasper voiced my suspicions.

"a) don't call me that," Bella said shaking her head, "b) he's not the one who wrapped his car around a tree at 100 miles per hour with an alcohol level of 1,13, c) what's in that photo is not as subjective as a broken heart."

"What happened to you?" Esme was very worried.

"You people are presumptuous," she sighed, "Did you ever consider that I might have done something I couldn't live with?"

"No." Carlisle told her and his belief would not be swayed.

"You wouldn't do something terrible then take a picture," I pointed out.

"And if someone took a picture of you doing something terrible you'd be the last person they'd give it to." Jasper reinforced the general view. Bella took a step towards her office but Charles grabbed her arm before she could take another step.

"It's okay," she stroked his face. He put his hands on her upper arm and his forehead on hers. His fingers dug so far into her flesh I almost stopped him because I feared he'd hurt her but he let her go. She went into her office and came back with an envelope that she had no intention of opening judging by Alice's vision.

"Lady's and gentleman, I give you," she paused with a smile, "Pandora's box." There was an air of malice here that I didn't need Jasper's gift to see. "No takers?" she arched her brow. Emmett reached out and took it at vampire speed. There was only a nanosecond between Alice seeing it in a vision and everyone seeing it.

Alice doubled over like her stomach had heaved. Jasper caught her around the waist. Emmett dropped the picture like it was on fire and tried, in vain, to shield Rosalie before she saw it. Esme was sobbing in Carlisle's chest. Charles had turned before the picture had even been opened but I could see his fists clenched. He'd seen this picture before, I understood his desire never to see it again.

I felt Emmett catch me under my arms. Under any other set of circumstances, I would have been murderous but I knew all that could be done about it had been done. I would give my life to spare Bella just this one thing but I didn't have that choice. I felt like I had no purpose, no power. I think this is what death feels like.

"Oh my God." Kindle gasped from the door when she saw the picture. "This can't be real. It isn't real, right? Charles?" it is now officially something you enemy would not wish upon you. He just bent over and grabbed the edge of the desk.

"It's gonna be a little awkward to call me Satan's whore after this, isn't it?" Bella replaced the picture in its envelope with a smile I couldn't, for the life of me, understand. This was the only comfort Bella could offer Kindle. Then she stood with her back against the door and said, "By a show of hands, how many of you wish you'd left the fucking box closed?"

**Please Review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: if you squirm easily close this chapter now. And by now I don't mean after the first paragraph because by then it will be too late.**

**CPV**

"Envelope." I extended my hand to her. She only surrendered it because she was curious about what I'd do. I took it and went around her desk. I couldn't see it but I knowing made it seem like I had x-ray vision. Isabella, defenceless, eighteen year old Isabella being strangled with a dog collar. You couldn't see the person doing it but you could see his hand with the leash wrapped around it and his foot on her back forcing her to stay on her hands and knees while the leash kept her from lying flat.

Someone was taking her from behind. You couldn't see much more than his bloody hand on her bloody thigh. There were two gashes on her lower back. This is where the blood was coming from. Another hand was pulling her hair and forcing her to face the camera. On the floor in front of her were seven peonies. You couldn't tell from the picture but I knew.

"Charles," she said in a tone I couldn't decipher in my current state of mind when she saw the drawer I opened. She put her cigarette lighter in here ever since the day she stopped using it. "You're going to burn it." She stated taking a seat on the other side of the desk.

"I should have burned it a long time ago." As I said this I wondered what else I missed, "Are there others?" I asked her.

"I don't think so. I would have found them by now, I think." She watched me light the corner and looked into my eyes as I threw it into the empty, stainless steel bin.

"Why would you keep that?" I asked her. Right now I needed to be understanding. I wanted to kill her for doing this to herself but that would be counterproductive. I calmed myself with a deep breath, "I don't understand you Isabella." I said to the floor.

"To remind myself that I was justified." I heard her say.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt so I had to ask, "Justified in what?"

"Which do you think will hurt more?" she asked me, "If I tell you or if I call you on knowing?" I didn't have an answer. "Oh look," she surveyed the room, "Nobody's asking what we're talking about. I think they've finally got it."

"What don't you know?" I asked hopelessly.

She just laughed, "I'd tell you… but I don't know."

"Whatever you did, I'm sure you're justified." Rosalie caught on fast. They exchanged a look Rosalie raised her eyebrows and Bella just started laughing.

"You're fucking kidding me." She said after shaking her head.

"Only you can laugh in a situation like this," Kindle opened the door to leave. Izzy grabbed her arm and pulled her close. It's amazing how strong that little person is. It's a little strange to watch her manhandle someone, especially one whose six feet tall without the ridiculous heels.

"One word. Just one." She said with a neutral expression.

"And what?" These two were too used to testing each other to ever take each other seriously.

Isabella laughed when she realised that Kindle didn't know the implications of what she'd seen. "You are slow even for a nurse." She opened the door for her.

"There's something else, isn't there?"Kindle realised.

"Tell me again why you married Kindle," she turned her head to me, ironic that she should bring that up at this moment, "And you," she turned back to Kindle, "Have you not learned that some stones are better left unturned?" Apparently Kindle had gotten such an education. She walked out without another word.

"Go home, all of you." Izzy turned to her employees, "I can't use you when you're stoned. And you owe me a pair of cotton panties." She pointed to Carlisle.

"Oh my God." Jasper exclaimed.

"It's just underwear," I rolled my eyes before I caught the atmosphere.

"It was you." Jasper said to Bella.

Edward's shocked expression told me that we were way past childish pranks and cheating on bets. "Do we want to know?" Emmett asked.

"He's referring to the whole serial killer thing." She frowned then said, "Oh wait, that requires a thirty one day time period." Then she turned to Jasper and said, "I could really use an employee like you," then she pointed her thumb back over her shoulder and said in an exaggerated whisper, "They're a little naive."

"What serial killer?" Alice's curiosity got the better of her. There was no use stopping this conversation. Izzy already knew. She'd known for years and she was fine. She didn't have nightmares, didn't drink as much or smoke or any of the other things she used to do. They weren't going to turn her in.

"The Seattle Snapper." I threw in, vainly hoping that they would just let this go.

"Oh."Another one got it.

"The peonies gave it away, right?" Izzy addressed Alice.

"Yes," Alice said hesitantly.

"Am I the only one who finds this conversation strange?" Emmett looked around the room.

"I was there," I told him when his eyes landed on me, "This doesn't even begin to scrape the tip of that iceberg." I continued under my breath and then remembered they could all hear me.

"Look, I was a different person when you knew me. You could even say I was a better person then, I don't know but it's certain that I was a different person." Izzy addressed the cullens. "So we're at a crossroad, you can walk away if you don't want to know the version of me that can discuss killing seven people without so much as a quickening pulse," she shrugged at Emmett, "or you can stick around for a while." They weren't sure what exactly she was offering, neither was I.

"One thing I'm told is constant though is my difficulty accepting change. If you decide to stay, this is not an offer to roll out the red carpet, it's not even an offer to be nice. You're our children's family and I want to know the people who are going to be looking out for them when we die but let's get one thing clear right now: You do not fuck with my life in any shape, manner or form." She paused as if to make sure they all got this, "And that man is my husband," she pointed at me, "He put every broken piece back in its place. He knows me and he loves me," she looked at me tenderly as she said this, "Those are two things even I can't say together honestly. You don't fuck with him unless told to do so by me." I laughed at this. "He's fair game if I tell you to steal something from his office." Also got a few chuckles.

A lot of mistakes had been made between the Cullens and Isabella but I'd made plenty of my own with her for the very same reasons. I was taught better, maybe they could learn too.

"Between you and me, there are only 3 people in this room who haven't taken a life." Emmett held out his hand.

I have a sneaking suspicion that he included me in that list.

**Please Review**


	17. Chapter 17

**CPV**

"Emmett," Izzy said, awkwardly folding her arms within Emmett's strong arms, "I don't hug."

"I hug enough for us both," he didn't put her down.

"I bite," she squirmed in his grasp.

"I'm made of stone," he held her at arms length, this was strange to watch. The only people who were strong enough to do that to Izzy knew better than to try. "And I'm a vampire, biting is my life."

"Charles," she requested aid after a sigh.

"Hey caveman," I addressed him, "Come on." I said when he looked at me. He put her down and Alice jumped on her.

"You realise that this constitutes hugging, right?" she squinted her eyes and tilted her head. My poor Izzy, this was not something she was used to.

"Maybe we can go shopping together." Alice's enthusiasm could not be stopped.

"I don't shop." Izzy told her.

"Maybe we could go to a restaurant," Esme suggested.

"You don't eat," Izzy pointed out.

"We could go out together," Rosalie put in her two cents.

"You don't drink," Izzy raised her palms.

"Are you going to shoot down everything we suggest," Rosalie asked.

Izzy looked up in contemplation and said, "Probably."

"Let's go screw with Kindle," Emmett headed for the door. Izzy's face brightened. This could get ugly and fast.

"I have a policy; only employees can screw with employees." I stopped them in their tracks.

"I'm going to type up a CV," Emmett said conspiratorially to Izzy.

"I'm not hiring you," I pointed to Emmett, "because she would never work," I was making my way out of the room, "and stop terrorising Kindle," I put my hand on her arm.

"None of your other ex wives want to play with me," she pouted.

"How many times have you been married?" Emmett blurted out.

"There's a good starter activity," I walked to the door, "Gossip about your husband. I'll go do what people do at hospitals, after I get through my paperwork." I waited till she came and kissed me. I grabbed her ass. You don't get to touch your wife very often if she works under you. "You might want to go somewhere Crawford won't find you." I suggested before closing the door.

**EPV**

"How many times has Charles been married?" Rosalie asked, apparently I was the only one who had paid attention to that.

"Six, but he did marry me twice," Bella came to sit on top of the table.

"What were the weddings like?" Alice was bouncing.

"I had one typical poofy-white-dress dress wedding and then I went green," she smiled.

"You recycled your wedding dress?" Alice was appalled.

"She recycled her husband," Emmett shrugged.

There were a few chuckles until Bella said, "That too but what I meant was I got married in a green dress."

"Green?" Rosalie raised her eyebrows.

"You should have seen the Judge's reaction. I hear it was epic." This was the most animated I had ever seen Bella in a conversation with us, well in a positive sense.

"Describe it to me," Alice said enthusiastically.

"When I said I don't shop I meant that to convey that I don't gush over clothes either," Bella crossed her legs.

"What's it like to have to deal with four ex-wives?" Rosalie wondered out loud.

"Rosalie, don't pry," Esme chided her.

"Crass is my first language." Bella laughed, "It tends to irritate me when people ignore the big grey creature directly behind my shoulder," she was swinging her legs now, "He has three ex wives, his first one died. His ex, ex, ex wife, Rose, is a real bitch. Maybe it's a name thing," she raised her eyebrows at Rosalie, "I haven't seen her in a really long time. I don't see Amber either, wife number two, she moved to the country. Kindle is fun. She's the most real, upright person he's ever divorced."

"So why do you terrorise her so much if you think so highly of her?" I had never heard my mother speak like that. It's conservative for some people but it's pretty bold for her.

"She's his ex-wife. I hate her on principal." Bella responded as though this should have been obvious, "But then again you don't understand the dynamics of divorce when you've been with the same person for the last 300 years," she added as an afterthought.

"Why'd you get divorced?" Emmett asked. I'll admit, I wanted to know.

"We fell in love," she answered. Just when I thought she'd stopped being cryptic.

"People generally get married for that reason, not divorced." Alice pointed out.

"Would you all sit down, the standing gets a little creepy after the first thirty minutes." Chairs were pulled up, "You seem like a fifth grade class when you all sit in front of me but it'll seem like board meeting if we sit around the table and those are never good for me." She paused as if considering and it suddenly occurred to me that these questions were personal.

"You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable," I told her.

"Chivalry is dead." She smiled to herself, "Our first marriage wasn't for love. We were living in the same house, raising children together. It just seemed easier to be married. Reporters become bored really soon after that and we had secrets to keep. He had a mistress, the lovely Kindle. She'd been his mistress going in. I could sleep with whomever I chose but be discreet.

That arrangement worked great when we were still practical but love came with jealousy and words that couldn't be taken back. Wife number two's plotting didn't help and neither did the secrets we were keeping from each other."

"Are you happy with him now?" A lot of the eyes in the room turned into slits, "I just want to be sure that you're happy." I said earnestly.

"I went all Cruel Intentions on you today," she touched my shoulder, "You're allowed at least one month of hateful, unforgiving anger." She shook me a little.

"Then I'd have all eternity to kick myself for it. Ten years is all the time I'm willing to waste." I would be her friend if that meant I could be near her. "If Charles makes you happy then I'm his biggest fan."

"He lights up my life," her eyes glazed over, "But don't go asking for his autograph," she snapped out of her daze, "If his ego gets any bigger I'm going to have to built it it's own house." Easy laughter filled the room.

We spoke like we were people getting to know each other without inhibitions. I felt hopeful, excited. I should learn to savour good feelings. They never last more than twenty-four hours.

**Please Review**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Thank you for the reviews. Don't be presumptuous about the implications.**

**Wager**

**CPV**

"Sympathising with families makes _you _a better doctor," I didn't miss the emphasis, "but empathising with families strips you of your PhD," she argued.

"I empathise with families all the time and I'm still a doctor," I informed her.

"You're an administrator masquerading as a doctor," she retorted, "You don't see the bloody patients. Doctors go to you when they need a neurosurgeon and are too lazy to find someone who doesn't live in an office. You look at a piece of plastic and declare someone dead. Then the doctor who came in has to go tell the family and switch off the machines, if said family has a grain of sense. If either of you put yourself in theirs shoes we'd be doing useless operations and have a hospital full of corpses sponging oxygen and electricity."

"No, I wouldn't want to be left on a ventilator to wither away," I told her honestly. She just smiled and called the twins.

"Now you're in the wrong shoes," she said as they came in, "Do you let him gamble?" she asked when Leah came in.

"I make my own choices," Anthony draped himself around his girlfriend.

"He'll give you a more interesting answer once you locate the island his balls moved to," Eli earned a kick from Leah.

"Your father's going to be a doctor-"

"I am a doctor." I interrupted her.

"You're an administrator," Eli avoided my eyes and then looked at his brother, "That should have been your line."

"Leave him alone," Leah stepped up, "There's nothing wrong with being mellow."

"You should know," Eli scoffed, "Must say, I'm disappointed. I expected a lion and got a housecat."

"You're one insult away from getting an angry wolf," Leah smiled deviously. She was going to fit right in.

"Oh good. I got a rise out of one of you. Did you take his penis too?" Eli got kicked by Leah's other half this time. Izzy waited patiently, swinging her legs off my desk. Eli burst into laughter, "Bitch." He got out before his brother tackled him.

Izzy whistled. I'm glad I don't have superman hearing. "My meeting," she raised her hand. "Your dad thinks he can be a doctor. I disagree. Pick a side and place your bets."

"I'm on dad's side," Anthony spoke first. Atta boy!

"Apparently you've lost your common sense as well," Eli slapped Anthony on the back of his head.

"I think he can do it," Leah stuck up for me.

"Use condoms, idiocy's sexually transmitted," He put his hand on her shoulder theatrically then turned back to his brother, "Dad has no problem dealing with living people and dead people. Dying people, not so much. Empathy is bad for medicine."

"It's the caring profession," Anthony raised his eyebrows.

"That's why sympathy is acceptable, anything more than that detracts. And not just from medicine but to your own general wellbeing. The man is paying three alimonies, two to people he doesn't even like because he wouldn't want be thrown out in the cold if it were him."

"I'm still in the room," I reminded him.

"It's still true," Mr. Big mouth kept going. Children today, "You'll adopt the patient."

"Three against two. Stakes," she stood so she could see us all.

"If I win, we go backpacking across Africa. The girl can come but no sex," Eli said to Anthony.

"That's ridiculous," Leah stated.

"That's why you bet on the winning side," Eli raised his shoulders, "So you can have your ridiculous demands."

"If we're right," I could see the light bulb go up above her head, "You go backpacking across Africa alone."

"You just got your nuts handed to you by a girl," I said out loud because there would be no way to hide it anyway.

"That only happens if you lose to mom, _again_," he struck back.

"When you three get back from Mogadishu you can paint the house, at a pace that won't alarm the neighbors," Izzy said. It was a sweet gesture. They would all be together for a long time if I didn't get this right.

"I want a wedding," I got up and got my briefcase.

"Sure," she scared me. Judging by that look on her face she'd pitch up a miniskirt.

"Get out," she said as she pulled me back into the room and wrapped my arms around her.

"I am so sick of tonsil hockey," Eli was the first to head for the door.

"I'm going to be late," I dropped my things.

"You're not going to be late," she held my face in her hands, "I'm not giving you sex." Disappointing. "I love you. Get out." She pushed me towards the door.

"I love you too," I said over my shoulder, "And thank you for throwing me out of my house." I was buried in paper till lunch. Maybe I am an administrator. Someone came into my office because they were too lazy, as Izzy had said. All I had to do was go through a wallet and talk to a family and be there when the machines stopped, not get a life story so I wasn't picky. Of course it was a Jane Doe. I didn't have a family to talk to talk to but I did have a heartbreaking tale. Someone had grabbed her off the street and jumped in front of a moving bus with her.

The murderer was alive. The world is never fair. I went to the patient's room. She was mangled so badly that even without the brain death I wouldn't want to live like this. She wouldn't ever be able to move on her own. Knowing I wouldn't want that made the idea of turning the machines off easier. I took the plastic bag with her things in it and almost thought it was empty. There was one item. The minute I saw it I knew there was no way I could declare brain death.

It was a five carat red diamond surrounded by clear stones and set in two bands that joined into one where they would have disappeared between her fingers if she'd had it on.

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	19. Chapter 19

**Jane Doe and Isabella**

**CPV**

It couldn't possibly be so. I went into Crawford's office. "Where's my wife?"

"You're asking the wrong person. She avoids me like the plague, remember?" he looked up at the last word.

"I'd love to make fun of how bitter you sound when you say that but I need to find her," I shot my mouth off. Worry doesn't aid restraint.

"I'm not bitter. It was a long time ago. Go ask her employees. I think she sent them to raid the fridge," he said them like a list and he looked back down at his work.

"Stupid administrator," I mumbled turning to leave.

"Arrogant Suit," he said just loudly enough for me to hear before I closed the door. I liked Jack, honestly I did. We'd just fallen into the pattern of acting like jealous teenagers around each other when he started dating my wife.

It's strange to see people you know don't eat stealing food for a person you know has money. Kindle's and Jordan's containers told me that this has nothing to do with money. Those two should just start buying from the cafeteria. "Where is she?" I asked them falling in with their march.

"She took a jog before lunch." Rosalie told me.

"And she isn't back yet?" I moved on to the next question in the same breath, "Shouldn't you be with your patient? If she jogs this long something must be frustrating her."

"The patient's been discharged." Carlisle answered.

"What's the panic about?" Edward asked. I took out her ring. "It's got blood on it," he was starting to look pale.

"I found it in a patient's things," I told him, "Maybe she lost it in a bet." That would be a relief to me at this point, "Don't start panicking now. You'll make me panic and I need to find her before I do that."

"How does the patient say they got the ring?" Rosalie asked.

"Patient is comatose," she isn't dead until someone says so.

"Is it a friend of hers?" Carlisle asked. I almost laughed. Rosalie did.

"Unrecognisable," I sighed. Absolutely nothing was helpful today.

"Where's the patient?" Edward stopped walking and we stopped with him.

"Trauma," I answered. He turned in that direction and we all started walking, "You can't read her mind. There's no brain activity. Besides I don't think she would be thinking about how she ended up with someone else's ring." Nobody responded.

"What the hell's going in," they started walking faster, "Damn it she's my wife. If this has something to do with her then I have to know."

"It's her blood," Carlisle answered me.

"No," I said automatically. If it was her blood on that ring then… "No." I said louder. We got to the room without another word. Edward knelt down by the bed and cried into the blanket by her hand. That's when I knew it was her. It was my beautiful Izzy.

"Dr. Bass," I heard someone say before I slammed the door in her face. I had to exhaust all my options before I fell apart. She couldn't die. There was no way Izzy could die.

"No," I turned to see the rest of the Cullens and the rest of my family in the doorway.

"How did you miss her being thrown in front of a moving bus," I shouted at Alice.

"I was going to surprise her with a party," she sobbed, "I had no signal," her sentences were and senseless and I didn't care, "I was too late and I didn't know how to tell-"

"It's not too late," something suddenly occurred to me.

"She wouldn't want that," Anthony said in a low voice, "I wasn't bitter for the fun of it before I met Leah," they all gathered around her bed like she was dying.

Anthony looked at me standing in the middle of the floor by myself. "She wouldn't want eternity without you," he'd suddenly become wise.

"Well I don't want the next thirty years with her and, seeing as she's comatose, she doesn't get a vote," I responded, "You need a beating heart, right?" I turned my attention to Carlisle.

"I couldn't-"

"Edward," I cut him off. I had no time for moralist bullshit right now. My wife was dying. He got to his feet.

"Edward," Carlisle started.

"Unless you're going to pious him out of doing this, you can help or you can leave." I opened the door. Anthony may stand by the principle but he wouldn't physically stand in the way. I closed the door when no one moved.

"Can you do this?" Alice asked, "Last time-"

"I've gained perspective in the last ten years," he dismissed her concerns and bent over Izzy. I didn't flinch when his teeth tear into her jugular. This was a healing thing. Next was her carotid.

"How are we going to get her out of here," Eli was already moving ahead, "I hear this is a painful process."

"We'll cover her and pretend to be taking her to the morgue," it doesn't surprise me in the least that Emmett came up with that idea.

"You all need to go," I said. This already looked suspicious. The room was clear but for me and Edward. I'd never expected him to leave. We had to stay till it was dark. The people outside might not take kindly to us carrying what would seem like a dead body and I had no time for the authorities. I held her in my arms till the car stopped. We weren't home.

"It's better she be far away from people," Edward explained as we got off at their house. The boys had brought a few of her clothes and her toys. I stayed by her side and held her hand. I could feel her temperature dropping.

"It's time," Edward stood by the door, "You have to be away from her for a little while." He explained when he saw I didn't understand.

"How long is a while?" it was never good when people were vague.

"She can't be near people for a year." He said to the wall. He was fucking kidding me right?

**Please Review.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Change and history**

**CPV**

"This is a joke right?" Anthony walked in, "They can't be separated that long."

"Actually you guys can't be here either," Edward elaborated.

"Then she'll have no one when she wakes up," Eli responded. Then they just came streaming in. jasper gave a lecture on new born madness.

"This too will pass," Eli put his hand on my shoulder.

"Dress her in something familiar, okay? She needs some connection to her life." I told them heading for the door, "Call me when she wakes up." Then I remembered something, "Is she supposed to be this quiet?" I directed my question at Jasper.

"The venom probably hasn't made it to her brain yet. She'll be fine," he assured me. It's not the easiest thing to be easy about, the healing power of poison.

"There will be some changes," Carlisle told me.

"Changes?" what more could change?

"Her eyes will start out red," he paused as if considering if he should tell me the next thing.

"She won't be able to bear children," Edward continued for him. That's not a change. He suddenly stood up straight when he heard this.

"What else?" I prompted when no one talked.

"The scars will be gone," Rosalie told me, "But the tattoo will be gone as well." She got the tattoos because of the scars so that shouldn't be a problem.

"Her memories will come back," Edward said after the room had been silent for a while. I just put my hand on my forehead. Maybe she'd do better this time. She'll have more time to adjust and she'll be virtually indestructible.

"What could be that bad?" Edward truly didn't see what it could be but it wasn't my place to tell him. "I understand," he said.

"She won't age," Rosalie felt the need to point out. I had children that had been the same for three years. This didn't shock me either. "She can't stay in the same place for long but she'll sparkle in the sunlight so she can't go out during the day if she lives in a sunny place." She'd told me about this too and had worried it would be the same for the boys. Fortunately it hadn't turned out that way.

When we'd heard all there was to say we left to begin what would be the longest 39 hours of our lives.

**EPV**

Bella had been still and quiet the entire time. We stood in front of her and heard her heart go silent. No one said anything. No one moved. No one even breathed. She clenched her fists. Her next movement was the opening of her eyes. She sat up and looked at herself then at us. She got off the bed in a lightning fast move and touched the place where Charles had been sitting. Her attention went from herself to us every few seconds.

"I know it can be a little overwhelming," Carlisle took a slow measured step forward. Bella stood straight and still.

"A little overwhelming. Really? That's how you want to describe this?" she raised and eyebrow. Jasper was doing his best to keep her calm. "Phone," she held out her hand.

_Give it to her_, Jasper thought at me, feeling her rising emotions. I slowly pulled a phone out of my pocket and passed it to her. She dialled a number I didn't quite catch and put the phone to her ear. This was strange to say the least.

"So this is it?" she said in a raised voice when the phone was picked up.

"Izzy?" a confused Charles tried to confirm.

"It's the count of Monte Cristo. Who the fuck else did you expect?" Jasper was getting more nervous with each passing second. I could see why.

"This is how things have to be. I'm sorry," he replied.

"You unfeeling bastard. That's all I get. I'm sorry?" her pitch started to frighten even those who couldn't feel what she was feeling. Jasper moved a fraction closer and Bella raised her hand in warning. This was not going well at all.

"The least you could do is let me keep the damn ring," She calmed down a fraction. A sad, disappointed fraction.

"Edward has the ring," Charles said in a low voice, "I didn't want you to damage it. They said you'd be… a little out of character."

"So that's it?" She suddenly laughed.

"You're confusing me," Charles sighed.

"I didn't have my ring when I woke up and I thought…" she sighed.

"They were right about being crazy for the first year. You know I'd never do that," he sounded relieved as well.

"Things have changed. I don't know what's the same," she sat down. Needless to say, we were a little perplexed.

"My love for you will never change. As long as you love me then we can work something out. We'll find a way," he reassured her. She lay back on her back in bed.

"Tell the kids to call me in a bit. I've got an audience of seven and I think they expect something from me." She looked up at the roof like she had never seen one before.

"I'll tell them. We all miss you." He told her sadly.

"I miss you guys too. I'll see you soon, okay?" she said. Charles, wisely, agreed and didn't tell her that soon would be in a year's time.

"And Iz?" he paused, "You did the right thing."

She put the phone on her chest and lay still.

"Aren't you in pain?" Jasper couldn't contain himself any longer.

"The part of my life that I've risked life itself to avoid has just come crashing in and my throat feels like death valley in June," she said in an agitated tone, "I'm just peachy." she said angrily.

"Would you like to go hunting?" Alice asked like she wasn't sure of the request.

"Will my throat stop feeling like summer in the Sahara Desert if I do?" she was getting angrier by the second. This was to be expected.

"Yes," Rosalie said more firmly than was true.

She got up faster than the speed of light and said, "You should have opened with that."

Rosalie and Emmett took Bella hunting. She came back a glorious mess. Emmett was one as well. She seemed perfectly fine until we found her sobbing under the stairs in the middle of the night. We tried everything to calm her down but it just wouldn't be done. Charles said we should let her cry it out. One of us should sit with her and just let her cry. There wasn't much else that could be done.

We were relieved when she stopped crying but that relief disappeared soon afterwards. She sat and stared into space and would not move. "You did the right thing," I said to her. That sentence had no business in the phone conversation so Charles must have been talking about something she'd remember.

She continued to stare into space and said, "Just because it was the right thing doesn't mean it's easy to live with."

**Please Review**


	21. Chapter 21

**Deep, Dark secret**

**EPV**

"What did she do?" I asked Charles on the phone in the forest where Bella would not hear me.

"I can't tell you that. I've said this a thousand times," he replied in a strained voice.

"How do you expect us to help her if we don't know what the problem is?" I hissed.

"Knowing the problem won't help," he hissed back, "I recommend cocaine," his voice was somewhat hysterical.

"This is no time for jokes," I had to remind myself to keep my voice down.

"I'm not joking," he dropped to a tired tone, "Taking away her memory stopped her problems in their tracks but it also stopped the healing process with them. We hadn't gotten past the dangerous, stupid avoidance tactics and I feared she'd die before we did. She doesn't know any other way so, since she's virtually indestructible, I'd let her pick up where she left off and go from there."

"Even if that was the way forward, which I sincerely doubt, vampires can't get high," I whispered.

"Why the fuck not?" his voice went up a little.

"Our bodies absorb blood, not narcotics," I told him.

"Mix it with blood and see what happens," he said thoughtfully. He was actually serious.

"I'll call you back when you're in a more stable frame of mine," I snapped the phone shut. His wife was having a breakdown and he was feeling helpless.

_Anything useless_ they asked in different phrases in their thoughts. I shook my head. Bella had been under the stairs for five days. Rosalie was sitting with her now. We were trying to come up with possible solutions when it happened. Out of the blue Bella attacked Rosalie. It wasn't a typical newborn attack. Bella had an astounding amount of fighting skill but no intention to hurt, just provoke. She fought each person who came close but eventually we stopped her. She did not at any point get angry. Afterwards she just went back to the spot she was sitting in.

Emmett called Charles. He didn't bother to leave the house. Charles didn't say a word and just put the phone down. We were now out of ideas. "Is he out of his mind?" I asked no one in particular when I saw Alice's vision. "What the hell is he doing?"

"I've been concentrating on Bella so I only saw him coming here," Alice answered.

"He's the only person with even a remote idea of what's going on," Emmett caught on.

I met him outside. He climbed out of his car with a backpack that smelled like blood, human blood. He'd gone completely insane. "You can't come in," I told him.

"If she wants me gone, she can tell me herself. I know you'd never let her do anything she'd regret so don't give me any shit about her instincts," he walked past me. I was too desperate to stop him so I entered the house and kept him behind me.

"Iz," he said in the volume of one accustomed to our hearing, "Talk to me, please."

"What do you want me to say?" we heard her voice for the first time in four days.

"That you'll come out and see me," Charles replied. The tension in the room rose as this request was processed.

"They did tell you that my eyes are a demonic, glow in the dark red, right?" she didn't move.

_Shit _he thought when he heard the word demonic. "Cool. They match your ring. Now come out here,"

I heard her take a deep breath then turn a corner. "Hi honey," he smiled when he saw her. She waved silently and looked down her nose. "I don't mind the eyes, really," he didn't know what else to say that would be comforting and unambiguous. _They suit you_ wouldn't work. She'd just said they were demonic. That pretty much killed and complement to the association. "You can't pick a fight when you're outnumbered," he went on like we weren't in the room. "Besides being suicidal, it's stupid." She just shrugged, "Talk to me, Isabella," he pleaded. She put her arms around her waist and said nothing. "I have nothing against wallowing if it has a reasonable time limit. Just stop picking fights. If you wanna do something stupid I brought coke."

"So that's what that is," she moved closer until she was in front of me. The others quickly flanked me. "That is my husband," she said looking me in the eye. Then she put her arms between Emmett and I and parted us like the red sea. She walked past Charles and sat at the table. He took out a bag of red dust and put it on the table. Then he handed her some type of pipe and a credit card. He'd been planning this for at least two days.

"Stop torturing yourself. I know my presence causes you pain because of the way I smell. Breathing through your nose is masochistic," he sat opposite her. I felt like I was doing something wrong as I watched her divide the line.

"Unfortunately I can't snort cocaine with any other organ," she replied placing the pipe.

"Maybe this isn't the best solution," Carlisle said as she went through the first line..

"I don't see any other bright ideas," Charles said.

"Will it work?" Emmett couldn't help his curiosity as another line disappeared.

"Isn't that overdoing it?" I asked as she went through the seventh generous line.

"Would you all shout up," she looked up at us, "I'm trying to do drugs here." She went through thirteen lines and then sat up and looked at the ceiling. Her eyes went shut.

"Maybe you should lie down," Charles suggested. Bella held out her hand and he led her. No good could come of having an intoxicated newborn and a human side by side.

"Maybe she should lie down alone," I put my hand on his shoulder.

"No," Bella held on to his hand and led him to the nearest bedroom.

_I'm not suicidal_ Charles assured me. I watched Bella get on the bed and face the wall through Charles eyes. He got in behind her and snuggled dangerously close. His arm went around her waist and I could see her body relax.

"I know what you did hurt you more than it did anyone else," he whispered in her ear, "But next time you want to torture yourself because you did it I want you to do me a favour. I want you to think of what would be happening right now if you hadn't done it." He placed his head in the nape of her neck.

"I think about that everyday, her voice had a distant quality to it, "That's kept me from shooting myself with that 9 mm you keep in your safe for two years. What tortures me is being a monster just like him."

"You're nothing like him," He stroked her cheek. We were all wondering who this new person in her life story was and what he did.

"Maybe I'm not like him. Maybe I'm a different kind of monster. All I know is that there is no person who isn't some kind of monster who could hold their own struggling child under water until they died."

**Please Review. **


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Thank you to all those who stuck with my story when it seemed treacherous and even when it got creepy. And thank you to all my faithful reviewers. You keep me going.I really appreciate it.**

**Redemption**

**EPV**

"Stop it." He said louder than he had to.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it's counterproductive, self-destructive and _stupid_," he emphasised the last word.

"I'm all those things, aren't I?" it was like she was in a trance, which she probably was.

"I'm going to do something to you," he climbed out of the bed, "It's going to hurt like nothing I've ever done to you but I need you to help me," he caressed her hand before standing straight.

"What would you like me to do?" she asked in a wary voice.

"I want you to reach back into history," I could feel his pain at this but did not understand it. Bella did. Her hands tighten into fists.

He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath, "Remember what he did to you," he opened his eyes and went on. Remember how degrading it was, how ashamed it made you feel." He took a sharp, deep breath and started talking really fast, "Remember how he lent you out to his friends, remember your wilful compliance, remember your shame." He said the last sentence slower and louder than the rest. She punched into the wall and crushed the spot. Carlisle and I went in and grabbed Charles by each arm. Esme tried to comfort Bella.

"Remember what it felt like to be powerless in his grasp," we started to drag him from the room, "Worse," he continued, "Remember how it felt to think that you were at fault for everything he did to you," she threw her head back and screamed. Now I wanted to tear him limb from limb. He saw that he could not finish his twisted speech and screamed, "Wouldn't you rather have died than have lived through that?"

"Yes!" she screamed back.

"That's how I know you did the right thing Isabella." He told her while we stood in shock. "If I could have saved you from all the things you are feeling now, I would have done anything." He said with absolute certainty. She started crying again. By this time we had let Charles go. "Think of what he was doing to her that very day. If he did that to her when she was only a month old what would be happening today, when she was nine?" she continued to sob. Alice went to hold her. "Answer me Isabella," Charles shouted, "Because I don't think you know how horrible this could have been."

"I know," she started rocking herself and Alice with her, "I lived through it." She screamed over her shoulder.

"You don't know," he shouted unnecessarily, "You know what it felt like for you. You haven't really thought about how bad it could have been watching your daughter and her father-"

"Stop!" she stood up.

"I don't think I should," he said when face to face with her, "Because I don't think you know how much suffering you spared her." He started to walk towards her. "I don't think you know how much worse her life could have been than yours, and that's saying a lot," they stood toe to toe.

"But how do I live with it Charles," she threw her hands up, "How do I live with drowning my little girl in the bath?" she sunk to the floor.

"You know the answer," he said as we watched in astonishment, "You just don't want to. You want to suffer, Isabella but guess what? There is no rightful way to condemn yourself to suffering for eternity, not for this."

"How is it a good thing if I let myself off the hook for killing my child?" she rose again to her feet.

"Do you remember that man without a name?" he looked down tenderly at her. She nodded her head. "Do you feel guilty for killing him?" he cocked his eyebrow.

"No," she replied, looking him straight in the eye.

"Then you shouldn't feel guilty for sparing her this misery," he touched the side of her face.

"How can I live with myself if I don't?" she looked up at him with a childlike, trusting expression, genuinely in pursuit of answers.

"You listen to me," he kept his hand on her cheek, "I will remind you everyday that there was no other way out, that you saved her innocence, that it's not bad to feel happy. That she would want you to feel happy." She sat down and cried tearlessly with her head on his shoulder. They looked at each other, "One thing I want you to tell me." She nodded when he didn't continue. "Why did you try to kill yourself?" a tear fell out of his eye.

"I didn't try to kill myself," she replaced her head against the wall. _What?_

"You're the most observant person I know," he also put his head against the wall, "A person walks into the room and you can tell if they're rich, divorced, carrying a gun. Hell, you can probably tell if they have a fucking IUD! You're never caught off guard and you never lose a fight. Why would you let someone throw you in front of a moving bus?" he turned to look at her.

"He had the tape," she turned to look at him.

"I thought you had all the footage," he was confused.

"There's something I left behind," she put her head on his chest.

"Tiffany," he said knowingly. Tiffany was Bella's daughter. I assume this was the tape of her death. "He held and caressed her shoulder. He moved away from her to look into her eyes, "It's okay to be happy Iz." It was as though he was imploring her to be happy.

"Thank you," she kissed him for the first time since she'd been changed. They held each other and we all went into another room. This felt like a very intimate moment. They talked about Tiffany for a while. Judging by Charles' surprise this had never been done before. When he left for the night he found me waiting by his car.

"So you want to marry her again," I said when he stood in front of me. I had heard this in his thoughts recently.

"Yes," he said warily.

"Do it here. It's symbolic of her new life," I stated my case.

"Why would you want that?" he wanted to know.

"Because you make her a better person." This could not be denied. Not by anyone who had seen what I just had.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: I love South Africa but there are times, like when they keep cancelling my tests because of power outages, that it really gets on my nerves. The thing I hate about a test being moved is the compulsion to study again. University is a time suck. My story is drawing to an end. I want to finish it before finals so that I don't leave you guys hanging. I live without internet when away from school so I won't post till February once this story is done.**

**Ever after**

**EPV**

Bella began her day with a five minute meditation that she would keep up for the rest of eternity. She went around the house on her hands. Everyone who'd known her for the past ten years was not surprised. I think she'll surprise me for the rest of eternity. She asked for him, continuously. He told us he had to come over or she would go ape shit on us. The joys of twenty first century English. He came over and we had to listen to them have a painful conversation about changing him. Changing Charles was a big risk. He may not have been a werewolf but having the gene made it risky to change him. They decided to wait till it was necessary.

Eli was in love. He was ridiculously in love… with a woman who would not hear of having a relationship with me. Nothing worked. Bella believed it would work out. She believed it would be painful and strenuous but that some day a way would be found. She also expressed how fun it would be to get a laugh out of it. Leah and Anthony had a blast.

"You're pining over your nanny." Leah laughed.

"I'm not pining and she was not our nanny, she was mom's maid." Eli said as though this would make a difference.

"Try to woo her with your piano skills again," Anthony suggested, thinking of a time when Eli had actually done this. They looked about eight at the time.

"Leah's genetically engineered to love you," his brother shut them up. They would never stop for long. Charles got shot down five times on his marriage offer. They laughed it off together each time. She agreed on the sixth time. She wanted no one other than family there. I was grateful to be included in the family group. Her agreement did a spectacular thing for Eli. Maria agreed to go to the wedding as his date.

Alice was cut out of the planning. Bella did everything herself. It was a simple ceremony. The vows were hilarious. The reception was a thing of beauty. I took a seat on the side when everyone started dancing. After the first dance Bella came and asked me to dance with her. "When the time comes," she said into my chest, "I want you to do something for me." I had a feeling I would not like this. "If he changes, I want you to take the twins and leave us for a year. If he doesn't, I want you to burn both our bodies. Don't tell me you can't do that," she said in anticipation my next answer, "You know as well as I do that it wouldn't work any other way." I couldn't answer this.

I went back to sit down. Eli was trying to convince Maria to go on a single date when Bella asked to dance with Maria. They knew each other. Maria was her maid and the only person who had talked to her for a number of years of her life. "It's weird, right?" Maria let out a hysterical giggle.

"Yes," Isabella laughed with her a little, "No. I married a guy who is sixteen years older than I am. I'm not one to comment about weirdness. You slept with a guy who is four years older than he is. You're way past weird. Stop bullshitting my son. If you don't want to date him because you're not interested just tell him." The dancing stopped.

"I'm married," Maria said sadly.

"You don't want to be," Bella and folded her arms, "Don't you dare tell me it doesn't matter. My son's in love with you. He doesn't care if you slept with his father's best friend or half of Manhattan or if you hate his mom, he loves you. If you want both of you to be miserable then go right ahead. Just don't hide behind any reason other than that." She started walking away.

"I don't hate you," Maria called after her. Bella turned and looked at her challengingly. "I think you vaguely resemble a human being now," Maria said with a smile. They smiled at each other and Maria walked away. She walked past Eli and said, "Maybe in two years, kid. I have to get through a divorce and you have to get through the legal age of consent. Then we'll see." She left for the night.

Eli ended up dating Maria. They, like Anthony and Leah, chose never to get married.

Maria had a problem with being a vampire for five years. By the time she was set for life, pun intended, she looked a good fifteen years older than Eli. Neither of them minded. They had a lot of fun making life awkward for strangers. She looked too old to be his son but too young to be a boyfriend. Charles was changed, when he was sixty five, after surviving a stroke. More people who had fun making the general public stutter and backtrack.

Life ended up being pretty simple, or pretty complicated, depending on you perspective. Respective couples lived alone then with families. Everyone new to the idea of eternal life was living like they had only a year, strange, or maybe it was the honeymoon period everyone was in. life would not always be happy and easy but boredom is something we'd never know.

**AN: Thank you to all those who read my story. A lot has happened and the last chapter may feel like a bit of a summary. It kinda is. I hope you're not too disappointed.**

**There's a lot more I want to write. It's all different parts of this story. Here's a summary of this story. **

**Bella gets pregnant, leaves home, finds Charles, has the twins, goes back home to… do something **New Life

**Finds out that Victoria is after her, finds out about the wolves, sticks around a while, goes back to Charles **Homecoming

**Meets Cain on the way **The land God gave to Cain

**She manages to get back to her family over a year later. Then there's the first two marriages. **The Billionaire's Trophy wife

**The time after her memory was lost **Finding Isabella

**As soon as I know how to use this poll feature then you guys can vote on which one you'd like to see first. Thanx for all the support.**


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